“The Kremlin unequivocally rejected US and European proposals to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and continued to signal its reluctance to compromise on territories”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Analysts note that the Kremlin has unequivocally rejected U.S. and European offers to provide Ukraine with “NATO-like” security guarantees as part of a peace deal and has continued to signal its reluctance to compromise on Russia’s territorial claims to Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
The Institute for the Study of War draws attention to the ABC News interview of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who stated on December 15 that Russia “unequivocally will never support, never agree” to the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine, even if these forces are part of the security guarantees or members of the “Coalition of the Willing”. Ryabkov also repeated that Russia will not make “any compromises” regarding the five Ukrainian regions illegally occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions and Crimea.
Read also: Mertz: the contingent in Ukraine proposed by the security guarantee plan will be able to repel attacks by the Russian Federation
Ryabkov, in particular, said that Russia has “only five [регіонів]”, effectively repeating the Kremlin’s demand that Ukraine give Russia the unoccupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, and thereby making it clear that Russia is unlikely to agree to any truce that freezes the current front line, ISW writes.
Analysts note that Ryabkov reiterated the Russian theory of victory, according to which Russia will inevitably win by withstanding Ukrainian resistance and Western support, saying that the end of Russia’s war in Ukraine depends on Ukraine’s supporters “recognizing the inevitable outcome [російського] success”. He also stated that the whole “purpose” of Russia’s war in Ukraine is to make Ukrainians realize that they belong to Russia, effectively confirming the Kremlin’s long-term goal of establishing control over Ukraine’s government and people, not just its territory.
On December 14 and 15, negotiations of the Ukrainian delegation headed by the President of Ukraine with the special representative of the President of the United States Steve Witkoff and the son-in-law of the President of the United States Jared Kushner continued in Berlin.
On December 15, following negotiations with the American and Ukrainian parties in Berlin, European countries proposed their six-point security guarantee plan for Ukraine.
The Kremlin said on December 16 that it had not received any signals regarding the results of the negotiations between the USA and Ukraine with the participation of European leaders in Berlin. As the spokesman of the Russian president, Dmytro Peskov, quoted by the Russian mass media, said, the Kremlin must first find out the details of the meeting before it can take part in new negotiations.