Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday dismissed a peace plan reportedly being considered by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s team to end the war in Ukraine. Lavrov said Russia was “appalled” by reports suggesting Trump’s aides were exploring a plan that would temporarily halt fighting while leaving open the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO in the future.

“Judging from numerous leaks and Donald Trump’s interview with Time magazine, their idea is to suspend hostilities along the line of contact and transfer responsibility for confrontation with Russia to the Europeans,” Lavrov said at a press conference. “We are not happy with proposals to delay Ukraine’s NATO membership by 20 years and to deploy European peacekeepers in Ukraine.”

Trump has not disclosed specific details of his Ukraine strategy, insisting in the Time interview that revealing his plan would render it ineffective. However, he said he is committed to supporting Ukraine, with reports indicating his team is weighing options such as deploying European forces while deferring Kyiv’s entry into NATO.

Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s pick as special envoy to Ukraine, has floated the idea of halting U.S. aid to Ukraine while threatening Russia with increased arms shipments as leverage to broker peace.

Lavrov, however, warned that any approach involving Ukraine’s eventual NATO accession would be a “non-starter.” He reiterated Moscow’s longstanding stance that Russia would oppose Ukraine’s NATO membership “regardless of the territorial factor.”

Russia has justified its 2022 invasion by framing NATO expansion into Ukraine as an existential threat, with Lavrov describing it as “aggressive absorption.”

Lavrov added that any outreach to Moscow must come from Trump’s administration, cautioning that Trump would face significant obstacles even if he sought to “relaunch bilateral ties.”

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, said Lavrov’s comments reflect Russia’s refusal to compromise on President Vladimir Putin’s core demands. These include keeping Ukraine neutral, limiting its military capabilities, and reshaping its government.

“Russia’s lack of flexibility will pose a major challenge to Trump’s goal of ending the war in Ukraine,” the ISW wrote in an analysis.

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