For the first time, Russia says it is ready to provide security guarantees for Ukraine, but has red lines
4 April 2025 11:54
For the first time, Russia has officially stated that some more security guarantees for Ukraine may be acceptable. Putin’s negotiator with the United States, Kirill Dmitriev, said this on American television, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports citing Politico.
Dmitriev arrived in Washington this week, the first visit by a senior Russian official to the United States since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. For two days, he held talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Security guarantees and the red line
In a commentary to Fox News after the Washington meetings, Dmitriev claimed that Ukraine had attacked Russian energy facilities, but at the same time said that the talks in the White House had a “positive result” and admitted that the Kremlin might be open to providing security guarantees to Kyiv.
“Certain security guarantees in some form may be acceptable.”
– Dmitriev said, without specifying which ones.
At the same time, Dmitriev outlined a red line – he ruled out the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO, calling it “absolutely impossible.”
These words of the envoy differ from the Kremlin’s usual position. Putin has previously said that peace is possible only if Ukraine is “demilitarized,” and his chief diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, has said that Moscow is “categorically” against European troops acting as peacekeepers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for his part, has long emphasized that security guarantees, such as NATO membership or the presence of American and European peacekeepers on Ukrainian territory, are the only way to ensure that Russia does not attack again.
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the “peace” process
Ukraine and its allies accuse Russia of deliberately stalling negotiations to end its three-year full-scale invasion by putting forward a list of demands and conditions that delay the process, while trying to create the impression of engaging in peace talks.
Trump last month acknowledged that Kremlin officials may be “dragging their feet” on the ceasefire, and last week said he was “furious” with Putin after the Russian leader called for Zelenskiy’s removal.
According to NBC, members of Trump’s inner circle are urging the US president not to take a call from Putin until Moscow commits to a ceasefire.
Chronicle of US-Russian negotiations
on February 18, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Assistant Prime Minister Yuri Ushakov met in Saudi Arabia with an American delegation, represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Mike Volz, and Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
After the talks, the US State Department reported that the delegations agreed to “eliminate irritants” in bilateral relations and continue to work on preparing talks on Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The parties also agreed to appoint high-level groups for further negotiations on Ukraine.
The media reported that the US and Russia discussed a three-stage peace plan for Ukraine, which consists of the following stages:
- A ceasefire.
- Holding elections in Ukraine.
- Conclusion of a peace agreement.
on February 27, negotiations between the Americans and Russians continued in Istanbul. According to the Russian side, they discussed the normalization of diplomatic relations. The Kremlin also allegedly demanded the return of 6 properties that had been seized from Russians in the United States in 2016-2018, and also proposed to resume air travel.
on March 13, Putin met in Moscow with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. The parties have not yet made any statements about the results of this meeting, except for the words of Trump’s national security adviser Mike Volz that there are grounds for cautious optimism.
on March 25, the United States agreed with Ukraine and Russia to ban attacks in the Black Sea.
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