U.S. President Donald Trumpis is trying to win support from President Vladimir Putin for a 30-day ceasefire proposal accepted by Ukraine last week, and Putin said crucial conditions need to be met before it can be accepted.
Trump is expected to speak with Putin this week about the way to end the Three Years War in Ukraine, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN on Sunday that he returned from what he said was a “active” meeting with Putin in Moscow.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, who did not mention the ceasefire proposal in an extensive interview with Russian media Izvestia, said any long-term peace treaty in Ukraine must meet Moscow’s requirements.
“We will require Ironclad’s security assurance to be part of this agreement,” Izvestia quoted Grushko as saying.
“Part of these guarantees should be Ukraine’s neutrality, and NATO countries refuse to accept the alliance.”
Moscow explicitly opposes the deployment of NATO observers to Ukraine, and Grushko also reiterated the Kremlin’s position.
Both Britain and France have said they are willing to send peacekeeping forces to monitor any ceasefires in Ukraine. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country has also accepted the request.
“It doesn’t matter which tag to deploy on the NATO contingent on Ukrainian territory: whether it’s the EU, NATO or as a national identity,” Grushko said.
“If they appear there, it means they are deployed in the conflict zone, with all consequences of these accidentalities as parties to the conflict.”
Grushko said that the deployment of futile post-conflict observers can only be discussed after a peace agreement is formulated.
“We can talk about unarmed observers, which is a civilian mission that can oversee implementation of all aspects of the agreement, or assurance mechanisms,” Grushko said. “At the same time, it’s just hot air.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a speech on Sunday that the Ukrainian peacekeeping force’s station was a matter of Kiev’s decision rather than Moscow.
Grushko said that Kiev European allies should know that only by excluding Ukraine’s membership in NATO and eliminating the possibility of deploying foreign military contingents on its territory can it work in the region.
“Then the security of Ukraine and the entire region will be ensured, as one of the root causes of the conflict will be eliminated,” Grushko said.
