Russia will be satisfied with the negotiations with Ukraine only when it achieves victory and an agreement is signed on Russian terms. This was stated by Russian President’s aide and head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky in an interview with “Vesti”.
According to him, Moscow and Kyiv have moved closer to peace, but achieving it depends on the positions and actions of all participants in the process. “A lot now depends on all the participants. A lot depends on Ukraine and on the position of the United States,” Medinsky said, as quoted by “Vedomosti”. He added that Europe’s position also remains important.
Moscow sees no territorial exchange
Medinsky said he saw no possibility for Russia and Ukraine to exchange territories. On this issue, he presented Moscow’s position, according to which territorial issues cannot be resolved through mutual concessions.
The head of the Russian delegation also said that the security zone, which Russia links to the protection of its border regions, would continue to expand. He did not specify any particular boundaries or deadlines for this expansion.
The statement comes against the backdrop of Russian claims that the creation of such a zone in Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions is part of Moscow’s military objectives. In official Russian statements, its expansion is linked to preventing attacks on Russian territory.
The dialogue will continue
The trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States were held on November 10 and 11 in Abu Dhabi. The main topic was the future security system in Europe. Following the meetings, Medinsky said that the countries had exchanged positions and reached a mutual understanding on some issues, but differences remained on others.
“The world needs a new, modern, renewed security system that is fair and does not come at the expense of individual countries. That is what we will work on,” he said
According to him, the dialogue will continue, but the specific details will not be made public before final agreements are reached. He described the American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as active participants focused on achieving a result.
The only specific result announced from the meetings was a principle agreement on a new large-scale exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine. Medinsky said that the Russian delegation had worked purposefully on the humanitarian issue, but the number of participants and the timeline for the exchange would be announced at a later date.
Thus, the rapprochement toward peace described by Medinsky does not mean that a peace agreement has been reached. The territorial issue remains unresolved, while Moscow continues to insist that any agreements reflect its positions.
Sources: vesti.ru, vedomosti.ru, rbc.ru