Russia rules out territorial concessions on eve of talks with Trump team

By Dmitry Antonov and Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday ruled out territorial concessions to Ukraine, setting out a tough opening stance on the eve of talks on Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump's team in Saudi Arabia.

Trump said after a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the two sides would begin talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy adviser who has also been ambassador to Washington, would meet U.S. officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Lavrov said there would be no talk of territorial concessions to Ukraine, around 20% of which is controlled by Russian forces.

"Territorial concessions to what is now called Ukraine were made by the Soviet leadership during the formation of the USSR," Lavrov said before heaping scorn on a Ukrainian bid to do a deal giving the United States access to minerals.

"How should we give in - with Russian people or with rare earth metals?" Lavrov said.

Reuters reported in November that Putin was ready to negotiate a deal with Trump, but would refuse to make major territorial concessions and would insist Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO.

A source with knowledge of Kremlin thinking said on Monday that Putin was serious about doing a deal, but not at any price.

The Kremlin said the talks would focus on restoring Russian-U.S. relations and preparations for possible talks on ending the war.

The administration of U.S. president Joe Biden, most EU leaders and Ukraine cast Russia's war as a land grab aimed at restoring Russian power. Kyiv and some EU leaders say that if Putin wins, he could try to attack NATO.

Russia dismisses that interpretation and denies any such plan. Putin says his "special military operation" was needed to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine and counter what he said was the threat from potential Ukrainian NATO membership.

The United States shocked European leaders last week by saying that Ukraine's place was not in NATO, that a return to its pre-2014 borders was unrealistic and that Europe would not be part of negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.

Lavrov said he saw no role for Europe at the table:

"If they're going to come up with some crafty ideas about freezing the conflict like this, and they themselves ... have in mind the continuation of the war, then why invite them?"

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is ready to put peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, with European leaders meeting in Paris on Tuesday to discuss Europe's role in a ceasefire.

(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Kevin Liffey)