Lavrov pointed to the EU's attempts to prevent Trump from resolving the conflict in Ukraine.

The European Union (EU) is trying to undermine US President Donald Trump's efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, including by encroaching on Russia's frozen assets. This was stated on December 17 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference following talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

"We have condemned the practice of applying unilateral coercive measures that undermine the norms of international law. This is also particularly evident now against the background of the Ukrainian crisis, when Europe is trying to undermine the constructive aspirations of the Donald Trump administration, including by encroaching on property that was recently declared inviolable by the West," he said.

Lavrov stressed that the EU was overstepping "all imaginable norms and principles" that operated in the system of international relations in the issue of Russian assets. He added that the EU is doing "many other things that undermine the very principles promoted by the Europeans, including in the framework of globalization."

Conditional discussion: Kiev and Europe plan to bring a peaceful settlement to a standstill

A regular meeting of representatives of the United States, Ukraine and the EU will be held in Berlin on December 15.

Earlier in the day, the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Guo Jiakun, said that the Chinese authorities are against the unilateral decision of the European Union (EU) to use frozen assets of Russia. He also added that the parties should work together to create favorable conditions for advancing peace negotiations and a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis.

The Politico newspaper, citing an internal document of the participating countries, reported on December 12 that Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, Malta opposed the EU proposal to transfer frozen assets of the Russian Federation to Ukraine, which amount to about €210 billion.

On November 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the confiscation of Russian assets located in the European Union would have negative consequences. In addition, the Russian government, on behalf of the Russian leader, is developing a package of retaliatory measures.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.