Washington’s ceasefire plan does not address the roots of the hostilities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said
Moscow has not heard any signals from the US urging Ukraine to end the conflict with Russia, but is taking Washington’s peace proposals seriously, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said.
Russia and the US have been engaged in talks over the Ukraine conflict, following repeated claims by US President Donald Trump that he intends to end the hostilities as soon as possible.
Ryabkov, however, told International Affairs magazine in an interview published on Tuesday that “we haven’t heard any signal from Trump to Kiev about ending the war.”
“What we see so far is an attempt to devise a framework that would first lead to a ceasefire, as envisioned by the Americans, and then move on to other models and schemes,” the diplomat added.
Ryabkov said that the plans so far fail to address Moscow’s core demand of resolving the root causes of the conflict. “That aspect is completely missing, and it needs to be overcome,” he stated.
Russia has maintained that it is open to peace talks, provided its key security demands are addressed. Moscow opposes any NATO presence on Ukrainian soil and has demanded that Kiev demilitarize, denazify, adhere to a position of neutrality, and recognize the territorial “realities on the ground.” A true settlement of the conflict requires a permanent and legally-binding solution, Moscow has insisted.
Russia is “seriously” considering the proposals put forward by Washington, but “cannot accept them as-is,” according to the deputy foreign minister.
“We have our own thoroughly considered set of priorities and approaches to this issue, which has been and continues to be developed – including by our negotiating team during recent talks with the Americans in Riyadh,” Ryabkov said.
Last month, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a potential ceasefire and agreed to a 30-day pause by Moscow and Kiev on strikes targeting energy infrastructure. Additional negotiations between Russian and US delegations took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia the following week.
Russia has since accused Ukraine of violating the deal on numerous occasions. Moscow has signaled that it plans to adhere to the moratorium but warned of a potential symmetrical response to Kiev if it continues to breach the agreement.
