Russia’s security must be guaranteed by any Ukraine peace deal, says Moscow
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow suspected a truce would be simply used by the West to re-arm Ukraine.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
MOSCOW – Russia sees no point in a weak ceasefire to freeze the war in Ukraine, but wants a legally binding deal for a lasting peace that would ensure the security of both Russia and its neighbours, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Dec 26.
“A truce is a path to nowhere,” Mr Lavrov said, adding that Moscow suspected such a weak truce would be simply used by the West to re-arm Ukraine.
“We need final legal agreements that will fix all the conditions for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation and, of course, the legitimate security interests of our neighbours,” he said.
He added that Moscow wanted the legal documents drafted in such a way to ensure “the impossibility of violating these agreements”.
Reuters reported in November that Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to discussing an Ukraine ceasefire deal with US President-elect Donald Trump, but rules out making any major territorial concessions and insists Kyiv abandon ambitions to join Nato.
Mr Putin said on Dec 19 that he was ready to compromise over Ukraine in possible talks
The Russian President said the fighting was complex, so it was “difficult and pointless to guess what lies ahead... (but) we are moving, as you said, towards solving our primary tasks, which we outlined at the beginning of the special military operation.”
Trump, who has repeatedly stated that he will end the war, said on Dec 22 that Mr Putin wanted to meet him. Russia says there have been no contacts with the incoming Trump administration.
Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, will travel to Kyiv and several other European capitals in early January as the next administration tries to bring a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine war, according to two sources with knowledge of the trip’s planning.
“I really hope that the administration of Mr Trump, including Mr Kellogg, will get involved in the root causes of the conflict. We are always ready for consultations,” Mr Lavrov said.
Mr Putin says an arrogant West led by the US ignored Russia’s post-Soviet interests, tried to pull Ukraine into its orbit since 2014 and then used Ukraine to fight a proxy war aimed at weakening – and ultimately destroying – Russia.
After a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan Revolution, Russia annexed Crimea and began giving military support to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The West says Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine was an imperial-style land grab by Moscow that has strengthened the Nato military alliance and weakened Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec 22 that Ukraine’s membership of Nato is “achievable”, but that Kyiv will have to fight to persuade allies to make it happen.
Moscow says the prospect of Ukraine joining Nato was one of the principal justifications for its invasion. Russia has said Nato membership for Ukraine would make any peace deal impossible. REUTERS
