Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that if Kyiv withdraws its troops from Donbas, Moscow would immediately declare a ceasefire and peace negotiations would begin. This stance has not changed one bit in 18 months, as the opposite «would mean, in our view, reviewing a very fundamental element of our statehood, enshrined in our Constitution,» explained Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, alluding to the annexation of five Ukrainian regions, including Crimea. Putin maintains that the conquest of all of Donbas is a matter of time—Ukraine still controls more than a quarter of Donetsk—and that the capture of the strongholds of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk confirms this, although Ukrainian President Zelensky's recent visit to the latter city clearly shows that Kyiv has no intention of surrendering.
Reparations with frozen Russian assets Russia has refused from the very beginning to even discuss the issue of reparations to Ukraine for the destruction caused by the war. And it has not limited itself to verbally condemning the freezing of its assets in the territory of the European Union (EU), which immobilized that money—indefinitely—to rebuild Ukraine. The Central Bank of Russia announced last week that it would sue the depository Euroclear «with the aim of obtaining compensation for the damages caused.» Moscow maintains that this was precisely the trigger for the conflict that broke out in 2014—plans for a possible allied base on the Crimean peninsula—and therefore has no intention of yielding on this front. The problem is that it also does not seem willing to accept that Kyiv receive security guarantees from the West similar to Article 5 of the Atlantic Treaty.
«European boots on Ukrainian soil» Moscow also rejects the European alternative to Ukraine's membership in the Western bloc, which is the deployment of multinational troops to prevent a new Russian aggression. The Moscow Arbitration Court received on Monday the lawsuit, which amounts to 18.172 trillion rubles (195.806 million euros or 229.734 million dollars).
No Christmas truce In line with its refusal to make any concessions to the enemy, the Kremlin rejected on Tuesday the Christmas truce proposed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and supported by the Ukrainian leader. «We want peace, not a truce that gives the Ukrainians a respite and allows them to prepare to continue the war,» said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov at his daily telephone press briefing.
«Peace for territories» This is a Kremlin dogma since June 2024. «But it will hardly be something good,» commented Yuri Ushakov, an adviser to the Kremlin on international policy.
Ukraine's future in NATO Russia's main red line remains Ukraine's accession to NATO. Otherwise, the war will continue in 2026.
Photo EFE
The publication «Russia dampens European hopes for a peace deal before the end of the year» was first published in La Verdad Panamá.
«We will not under any circumstances accept the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory,» said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in an interview with the ABC channel. He added that «The Coalition of Volunteers is the same. There will be no cessation of hostilities until all our demands are met».
