Russia Demands “Ironclad” Guarantees, NATO Exclusion for Ukraine. A Russian deputy foreign minister said in remarks published on Monday that Russia would seek “ironclad” guarantees in any peace deal on Ukraine that NATO countries will expel Kiev and that Ukraine will remain neutral.
U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to win President Vladimir Putin’s support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week, which Putin says needs to meet key conditions to be acceptable.
Trump is expected to discuss ways to end the three-year war in Ukraine with his Putin this week, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff told media on Sunday after returning from a “positive” meeting with Putin in Moscow.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Russian media outlet Izvestia that made no reference to the ceasefire proposal, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grishko said that any lasting peace agreement on Ukraine must meet Moscow’s demands.
“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees be part of the agreement,” Izvestia quoted Grishko as saying.
“Part of these guarantees should be Ukraine’s neutrality, NATO countries’ refusal to accept it into the alliance.”
Moscow is clearly opposed to the deployment of NATO observers in Ukraine, a position echoed by Grishko, who also echoed the Kremlin’s position.
Both Britain and France have said they are ready to send peacekeepers to monitor a ceasefire in Ukraine. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country was also open to requests.
“It doesn’t matter under what label NATO troops will be deployed on Ukrainian soil: whether it’s EU, NATO, or in a national capacity,” Grishko said.
“If they appear there, it means they are deployed in a conflict zone with all the consequences for these troops as parties to the conflict.”
The deployment of unarmed observers after the war can only be discussed once a peace agreement is reached, Grishko said.
“We can talk about unarmed observers, a civilian mission that will monitor the implementation of individual aspects of the agreement, or guarantee mechanisms,” Grishko said. “In the meantime, this is just hot air.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said in remarks published on Sunday that the question of deploying peacekeepers in Ukraine is for him to decide, not Moscow.
Grishko said that Kiev’s European allies should understand that only the exclusion of Ukraine from NATO and the elimination of the possibility of deploying foreign military forces on its territory will serve the region.
“This will then ensure the security of Ukraine and the entire region in a broader sense, because one of the root causes of the conflict will be eliminated,” Grishko said.
