Kremlin Spokesman, Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia is opposed to European proposals on security guarantees for Ukraine and will not allow the presence of NATO troops on its neighbour’s territory.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow on Wednesday, Peskov said that while Moscow welcomed recent efforts by United States President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, he reiterated that Russia would not accept a European troop deployment there as part of security guarantees for Kyiv, as that would equate to a NATO presence in its neighbour’s territory – something it had long opposed.
“In fact, at the very beginning, it was the advancement of NATO military infrastructure and the infiltration of this military infrastructure into Ukraine that could probably be named among the root causes of the conflict situation that arose. So we have a negative attitude towards these discussions.”
Dmitry Peskov
Also, Peskov described Trump’s efforts to end the war as “very important” and said this month’s US-Russia presidential summit in Alaska had been “very substantive, constructive and useful”, adding that Moscow hoped the efforts would continue.
However, he noted that while security guarantees were“one of the most important topics” in the negotiations, Russia did not believe it was helpful to discuss them in public.
Security guarantees against future Russian aggression loom as a key consideration in efforts to negotiate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying he wants guarantees as part of a potential peace deal to be as close as possible to NATO’s Article 5, which holds an attack against one member state to be an attack on all.
Trump has said the US will not put troops on the ground in Ukraine as part of any future security guarantees, indicating that European countries should shoulder most of the burden of guaranteeing Ukraine’s security.
Russia insists there must be no troop presence from NATO countries deployed in Ukraine, and instead says it should be one of the guarantors of Ukraine’s security.
Ukraine’s Team Speeds Process Of Security Guarantees For Ukraine
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said in a post on X on Wednesday that his teams were “accelerating the process of defining the details” of future multilateral security guarantees for Ukraine, and said that the time was right to organise leaders’ discussions on the key priorities and timelines around the arrangements.
“Our teams are actively preparing the architecture of strong and multilateral security guarantees for Ukraine, with everyone involved – Europeans, Americans, and our other partners in the Coalition of the Willing.
“Military commanders, defense ministers, and security advisors – at different levels, we are preparing the components of future security.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
He added that it is already time to organise the format for the leaders’ discussions to determine the key priorities and timelines.
Also, Zelenskyy stressed that Russia is “currently sending negative signals regarding meetings and further developments.”
“The Russians will only react to real pressure in response to all this. Pressure is needed. We are counting on it.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine and the US have been pushing for a face-to-face meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to advance peace negotiations, with the US president suggesting he would consider further sanctions on Moscow amid concerns Russia was stalling.
Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian gas production and import infrastructure in recent weeks, which it says are legitimate targets because they help Ukraine’s war effort.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed its forces had taken control of the village of Ozarianivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
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