In a press statement on Sunday, Peskov explained that the principle of “the indivisibility of security” is the foundation that Moscow continuously proposes. He noted that one of the fundamental reasons for the current conflict was the violation of Russia’s security guarantees through efforts to incorporate Ukraine into NATO and the expansion of the alliance’s military infrastructure towards Russian borders. Peskov asserted that the deployment of foreign troops, particularly European or American, in Ukraine cannot be viewed as an acceptable security guarantee for Russia.
Regarding the negotiation process with Kyiv, the Kremlin spokesman indicated that the level of negotiations could be elevated to a political level if necessary, but he emphasized that the current level is sufficient and yielding good results, praising the work of the Russian negotiating team led by Vladimir Medinsky.
Peskov concluded by saying that any high-level meetings between the parties require intensive preparations and the resolution of many small technical issues that collectively form the basis of the comprehensive settlement process.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed last Tuesday, during his meeting with the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico, that it is possible to find common ground on Ukraine’s security guarantees, noting that this cannot be implemented at the expense of Russia’s security.
He added, “There are options to ensure Ukraine’s security once the conflict ends, and this was also a topic of our discussions in Anchorage. It seems to me that there is an opportunity to reach a consensus here.” He pointed out that “with NATO’s assistance, an attempt is being made to encompass almost the entire post-Soviet space, but we have been forced to respond to this, and this is the whole problem.”
