Rejection of NATO, EU and Russian as state language: Russian Foreign Ministry lists new ‘conditions for peace’
Read also: There can be no lasting peace with Russia until Ukraine liberates Crimea - opinion
The deputy to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “Ukraine must”:
Refuse to join NATO and the EU
Commit to a ‘neutral, non-aligned status’
End the resistance of its Armed Forces
Cease the supply of Western weapons
Recognize the ‘new territorial realities’ (Moscow’s euphemism for the illegal occupation of Ukrainian lands)
Make Russian a state language ‘at the legislative level’
He also characterized Russia’s genocidal war of aggression against Ukraine as “the realization of the right of peoples to self-determination”, co-opting decolonialist language from the United Nations.
While these positions are obviously unacceptable to Ukraine – even before the thousands of war crimes Russia has committed against Ukrainians – Galuzin listed them as conditions “for achieving a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace.”
Galuzin claimed that the Kremlin has not changed the initial goals of its criminal war, falsely labeling them as "protecting the residents of Donbas, demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine, and eliminating threats to Russia's security that originate from its territory."
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly reiterated that peace through territorial concessions is impossible, and that the war can only end based on respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders as of 1991.
In addition, Ukraine does not accept any proposals that would involve the loss of territory or the freezing of the war.
The decision to join the EU and NATO is a sovereign choice of Ukraine, which, against the backdrop of the war with Russia, is supported by a record number of Ukrainians since independence.
Ukraine considers the peace plan outlined by Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G20 summit in Bali in the fall of 2022 to be the only option for a settlement. This includes, among other things, a demand for reparations from Russia and punishment of Russian war criminals and those responsible for starting the war.
Read also: EU-China relations will suffer if Beijing does not nudge Moscow towards peace, Borrell says
In a new report, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War suggested that Moscow is now probably trying to reinforce its false claims of readiness to negotiate with Ukraine against the backdrop of the arrival of China's Special Representative for Eurasia, Li Hui, in Moscow on May 26, including to discuss a negotiated settlement of Russia's war in Ukraine.
According to The Wall Street Journal, in the days leading up to his tour of Europe, Hui urged European officials to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine, but to preserve Russia's right to the illegally occupied territories.
The WSJ also reports that China sees its main interest in ensuring Russia's victory and in preventing Russia from using nuclear weapons, citing a European diplomat.
China may be trying to push the West to influence Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire, said ISW analysts.
Read also: Ukrainian victory prevents China’s global domination – Ambassador Herbst
The Kremlin is likely stepping up its ostentatious and false "interest" in the talks ahead of a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive to hinder Western assistance to Ukraine, the Institute concluded.
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