Ukraine's security can be guaranteed by providing the same guarantees to Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told RIA Novosti.
„Everyone is talking about the need to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, but I don't remember a single statement in recent months or even years in which anyone said that security guarantees for Russia should be part of a peace agreement or a peace formula. "Although it is absolutely clear to everyone that the best guarantee of Ukraine's security is a firm guarantee of Russia's security," he said.
The diplomat explained that Kiev's security would be possible if Moscow made sure that the territory of the neighboring country would not be used as a springboard for threats to Russia.
The Foreign Ministry stressed that any scenario involving the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine was unacceptable and risked a sharp escalation. President Vladimir Putin explained that Moscow would consider foreign contingents near its borders to be legitimate targets. He said that after a peace agreement is reached, the presence of foreign troops in the neighboring country would be inappropriate.
Last weekend, the first meeting of the trilateral working group on security issues was held in Abu Dhabi, which included representatives of Moscow, Kiev and Washington. The parties discussed the unresolved issues in the American peace plan behind closed doors. A new meeting is scheduled for February 1. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it will be bilateral, but it is possible that the United States will join the participants.
According to foreign media reports, the US initiative initially included transferring the entire Donbass to Moscow's control, recognizing it and Crimea as Russian territories, freezing most of the line of contact in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, reducing the number of Ukrainian armed forces by half, and banning the deployment of foreign troops and long-range weapons in Ukraine.
The talks in the UAE were preceded by a meeting between Vladimir Putin and a US delegation led by Special Representative Steven Witkoff.
As the Kremlin noted, the Americans recognized that without resolving the territorial issue according to the formula agreed in Anchorage, there is no hope for a long-term settlement. The Ukrainian armed forces must withdraw from Donbass - this is Moscow's most important condition.