Russia cannot accept U.S. proposals to end the war in Ukraine in their current form because they do not address problems Moscow regards as having caused the conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, suggesting U.S.-Russia talks on the subject had stalled.
The comments by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov suggest Moscow and Washington have so far been unable to bridge differences which President Vladimir Putin raised more than two weeks ago when he said U.S. proposals needed reworking.
They come as U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be growing increasingly impatient with what he has suggested might be foot-dragging over a wider deal by Moscow.
Trump in recent days has said he is “pissed off” with Putin and has spoken of imposing sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking a deal.
Ryabkov, a specialist in U.S.-Russia relations, said Moscow was not yet able to move forward with a deal however.
“We take the models and solutions proposed by the Americans very seriously, but we can’t accept it all in its current form,” Ryabkov was quoted by state media as telling the Russian magazine “International Affairs” in an interview released on Tuesday.
“As far as we can see, there is no place in them today for our main demand, namely to solve the problems related to the root causes of this conflict. It is completely absent, and that must be overcome.”
Putin has said he wants Ukraine to drop its ambitions to join NATO, Russia to control the entirety of four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own, and the size of the Ukrainian army to be limited. Kyiv says those demands are tantamount to demanding its capitulation.
As preconditions for a ceasefire, the Russian leader has insisted on terms that would, in effect, dismantle Ukraine as an independent, functioning state – pulling it firmly into Russia’s sphere of influence.
He has demanded that Kyiv recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea and four partly occupied regions in the south-east, withdraw its forces from those areas, pledge never to join Nato, and agree to demilitarisation.
Grigory Karasin, who represented Russia at the talks with the US in Saudi Arabia, last week admitted that the sides had failed to make significant progress and that negotiations may drag into next year.
But Trump’s team has said it remains committed to halting the war, with the US leader telling NBC he and Putin planned to speak again this week.
The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, who spent time with Trump over the weekend, said he proposed setting a deadline of 20 April for Putin to comply with a full ceasefire.
However, those close to the Kremlin believe Moscow is unlikely to accept a full ceasefire without securing some of its demands, which include the cessation of all arms and intelligence supplies to Ukraine from the US and other allies.
“We’re prepared to keep fighting for some time,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, a prominent Russian foreign policy analyst who heads a council that advises the Kremlin. “The continuation of the war, which we are slowly but surely winning, is in our interest. Especially considering that the main sponsor [the US] seems to be backing out … Why should we rush in a situation like this?”
