Russia Open to New Ukraine Peace Proposals but Sets Conditions
MOSCOW, RUSSIA — WEB DESK: Russia is prepared to consider new proposals aimed at ending the war in Ukraine but will only support ideas that align with Moscow’s objectives and reflect what it describes as the current “realities on the ground,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday.
Ryabkov made the comments in an interview with Russian media outlet News.ru, saying the United States had demonstrated a willingness to engage in “constructive dialogue” and showed an understanding of Moscow’s position on the conflict.
However, the senior Russian diplomat questioned whether Washington could exert enough influence over Kyiv and Ukraine’s European allies to advance a settlement acceptable to Moscow.
Ryabkov said Russia was prepared to listen to new ideas from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and continue diplomatic engagement with Washington. He stressed, however, that proposals would have to be consistent with the objectives set by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s assessment of conditions on the ground.
Rubio said last month, after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Manila, that Washington remained committed to efforts to end the war. The US secretary of state cautioned that a rapid breakthrough should not be expected and said Washington was seeking a potential middle ground between the parties.
Diplomatic efforts have made little progress in recent months. Russia-US negotiations aimed at ending the conflict have largely stalled amid the war in Iran, while no direct Russia-Ukraine peace talks have taken place since February.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that it had no information about a possible new visit to Moscow by US presidential envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who have previously been involved in negotiations with Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly said it remains open to negotiations but insists that any agreement must acknowledge what it calls the “new realities” created during the war. Russia currently controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory. Ukraine and its Western partners have rejected Russian sovereignty claims over occupied Ukrainian territories.
The latest remarks follow comments from Lavrov last week that Putin would be prepared to receive US envoys again if they travelled to Russia, although Moscow wanted to know what proposals Washington would bring. Lavrov also accused the United States of deeper involvement in Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, including through intelligence support.
Russia Signals Interest in Renewed Nuclear Dialogue
Ryabkov also addressed nuclear arms control, signalling that Moscow remains interested in diplomatic engagement with Washington despite the expiration of the New START treaty in February.
The treaty had placed binding limits on deployed strategic nuclear weapons held by the United States and Russia. Its expiration left the world’s two largest nuclear powers without legally binding limits on their strategic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century.
Russia has said it intends to continue observing the treaty’s missile and warhead limits as long as the United States does the same.
Ryabkov said Moscow remained open to finding political and diplomatic mechanisms to stabilise nuclear relations between the two countries.
His comments suggest that despite deep disagreements over Ukraine and broader tensions between Moscow and Washington, Russia is leaving open channels for discussions on both a possible Ukraine settlement and strategic nuclear stability.
