Russia’s ambassador reveals how close Putin is to peace with Ukraine

Amid reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin was considering a new ceasefire deal with Ukraine, Moscow’s envoy to the United States has outlined to Newsweek where the Kremlin stands on the prospects of bringing an end to Europe’s deadliest war in decades.

Officials in Washington, D.C., have cast skepticism on the notion that Moscow truly sought a negotiated end to the conflict, but Russian ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek that “we consider statements by representatives of the U.S. administration about Russia’s alleged lack of readiness for peace negotiations with Ukraine as a deliberate attempt to turn everything ‘upside down.'”

At a time when the Russian military has made key gains toward Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, breaking a yearlong stalemate, Antonov stated that “there can be no talk of any “freezing’ of the conflict” and the Russian leader “did not say anything like this.”

“Let me emphasize that any Russian-Ukrainian agreements must take into account the situation ‘on the ground,'” he said. “Retreat or withdrawal of the Russian Federation Armed Forces to hypothetical dividing lines is excluded. Let us remind you: there is a Constitution of Russia. The borders of our state, which include new federal subjects, are clearly marked there.”

Such borders remain a core point of contention between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia’s September 2022 referendum to annex the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia has not received international recognition, nor has the disputed March 2014 vote for the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula amid worsening unrest that ultimately sparked the ongoing war.

“President V.V. Putin indicated that the Russian Federation needs tangible, legally enshrined ‘on paper’ security guarantees,” Antonov said. “But, based on the current situation in Ukraine, it is not clear who exactly can sign the document, taking into account the termination of Zelensky’s term of office. This figure has already lost its legitimacy. This is a serious issue that needs to be discussed.”

Zelensky would have been set to face elections in March or April of this year, but political parties have agreed to suspend the vote in line with the nation’s state of martial law due to the ongoing war that began with Putin’s decision to launch a so-called “special military operation” in February 2022. The move came eight years after the eruption of a Russia-backed separatist insurgency in Donetsk and Luhansk, and Russia’s seizure of Crimea following a popular uprising that led to a pro-West government taking power in Kyiv.

Russian officials have deemed the conflict to be a defensive war against the further spread of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance along Russian borders. U.S. officials have called it an unprovoked war of aggression and have supplied Ukraine with billions of dollars of military and economic assistance.

Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment.

President Joe Biden‘s administration has repeatedly emphasized that it would not pursue any negotiations toward ending the conflict without the participation of the Ukrainian government. When a Reuters report emerged Friday citing four unnamed Russian sources claiming that the Kremlin was ready to halt the conflict through a negotiated ceasefire that would entrench the current frontlines, U.S. officials cast doubt.

“The Kremlin has yet to demonstrate any meaningful interest in ending its war, quite the opposite,” a State Department spokesperson told Newsweek. “Any initiative for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine must be based on full respect for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders and consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.”

On Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba argued that the latest developments pointed to an effort to sabotage an upcoming Ukraine peace summit to be held next month in Switzerland.

“His entourage sends these phony signals of alleged readiness for a ceasefire despite the fact that Russian troops continue to brutally attack Ukraine while their missiles and drones rain down on Ukrainian cities and communities,” Kuleba wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He added: “Putin currently has no desire to end his aggression against Ukraine. Only the principled and united voice of the global majority can force him to choose peace over war. This is what the Peace Summit is intended to achieve. This is why he is so afraid of it.”

Zelensky also argued that the Russian leader is “afraid of what the summit can bring” in a video address on Friday. The Ukrainian president stated that “the world is capable of forcing Russia into peace and into compliance with international security norms.”

Antonov, for his part, dismissed the peace summit, to which Moscow did not receive an invite, as an illegitimate affair.

“In fact, this initiative is nothing more than a profanation designed to distract the world community from the key problems of our time,” Antonov said. “Replacing serious diplomatic and legal work with empty talk and repetition of political slogans will not work.”

He added: “Moreover, the Swiss gathering does not have the right to confirm Zelensky’s legitimacy. It simply doesn’t have the authority.”

Meanwhile, the war continues to rage on, with Russian forces advancing toward Kharkiv, as well as in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia provinces. Antonov warned that the battlefield situation would only worsen for Ukraine should Russia’s demands continue to be spurred by Kyiv and its international supporters.

“If Russian proposals for peace talks in Washington are again ignored,” he said. “The Ukrainians will lose much more territory than they currently have.”