Russia’s ambassador reveals the “path to peace” in Ukraine

Russia’s envoy to the United States has outlined to Newsweek what the Kremlin views as a road map toward bringing an end to its ongoing war in Ukraine, a proposal he said diverged significantly from the strategy pursued by Kyiv’s Western supporters.

“There is a path to peace, even if it is thorny,” Ambassador Anatoly Antonov told Newsweek in a statement from the embassy.

The remarks came at a time when discussions toward reaching a lasting solution to the yearslong conflict that erupted into full-scale war in February 2022 were gaining momentum in both Moscow and European capitals that have come to aid of Kyiv (spelled Kiev by Russian officials).

But Antonov was quick to dismiss Western initiatives such as the recent Swiss peace summit through which he said that “the United States and its satellites broadcast to the public the imaginary desire to put an end to the conflict around Ukraine.” The two-day event also included key Global South players such as India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates; however, it ultimately failed to produce a final agreement when it concluded Sunday.

Antonov, for his part, argued that “the goal of such an advertising campaign is not to stop, but to prolong the bloody ‘project’ that the West has been implementing for more than 10 years.” He viewed the idea behind the meeting as “purely opportunistic: to create an illusion of widespread support for the ‘peace formula’ in various capitals, but in reality, to hush up any doubts about the legitimacy of the Kiev regime, which has already been bankrupt for a long time, both politically and economically.”

“This fact was, actually, confirmed by the Swiss organizers, who at the end of the event could only state differences in views on the situation in the East of Europe,” Antonov said. “While the key thesis was conveyed by representatives of developing nations, those few who had been persuaded to participate and came to the Alpine resort asked directly into the microphone: what was the point of inviting us to a hall where Russia is not present?”

Conflicting Narratives

As for Russia, Antonov said, “Our country has never avoided dialogue with Ukraine,” and “therefore, any attempts to give ultimatums are out of questions.”

He recounted Moscow’s view of the conflict, one in which Russia blamed the U.S. and Western allies for establishing the conditions for war by pursuing the eastward expansion of the NATO military alliance and supporting the popular protests that overthrew Ukraine’s government in favor of a pro-West administration in 2014. The ensuing unrest saw pro-Russia separatists begin a yearslong insurgency in the eastern Donbas region and Russian troops seized the southern Crimean Peninsula, later annexing the strategic Black Sea territory in an internationally disputed referendum.

Throughout eight years of conflict, the U.S. and Ukraine accused Russia of directly supporting the breakaway states in the east, something Moscow denied. But amid a mass buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s borders in late 2021 and early 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally recognized the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and announced the beginning of a “special military operation,” sending tens of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine.

Kyiv, along with Washington and other international supporters, consider it to be an unprovoked and unjustified military aggression. On the ground, both sides remain locked in a virtual stalemate, though Russian forces launched a new offensive last month toward Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv, sparking renewed concerns in the West over Ukraine’s capability to avoid further territorial losses.

Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department for comment.

Several rounds of direct talks between representatives of Moscow and Kyiv were held in Belarus and Turkey early on in the conflict. Russian officials have repeatedly stated that the last, ultimately unsuccessful effort hosted in Istanbul in April 2022 came close to a peace deal and Antonov pointed to recent reports in Western media outlets also suggesting an agreement may have been closer than previously thought.

A number of other peace plans later emerged from abroad, but none have managed to revive direct discussions between Russian and Ukrainian officials.

Putin’s Seven Proposals

In recent weeks, however, Putin has signaled that he was willing to engage in new talks toward ending the war. Yet the Kremlin has not backed down from its core demands of retaining claimed territory, including Crimea and four more provinces—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia—later annexed through internationally unrecognized referendums in September 2022, as well as additional commitments for Kyiv and its Western backers.

“Direct statements by President Vladimir Putin on the possibility to end hostilities as quickly as possible under clear and well-calibrated conditions contrast sharply with the Western capitals’ idle talk and failed conferences,” Antonov said.

Antonov stated that the Kremlin’s “proposals include withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from four regions of Russia; confirmation of the status of Crimea, Sevastopol, DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as subjects of the Russian Federation; Kiev’s refusal to join NATO; Ukraine’s status as neutral, nonaligned and nuclear-free state; its demilitarization and denazification; lifting of Western sanctions; ensuring the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens of the republic.”

“Conversation on the abovementioned issues should be conducted without ‘imperial’ dictates and orders from the White House,” Antonov said. “It is high time the United States recognized the futility of constant pursuit to enforce its will on all countries. Realized that it will no longer be possible to deter the growing shift towards multipolarity.”

The U.S. and Ukraine have only further deepened their security partnership, however, signing a new agreement on the sidelines of the G7 summit last week in Italy that outlined a commitment to at least a decade of U.S. training of Ukrainian forces, as well as greater cooperation in military cooperation and intelligence-sharing. The U.S. also affirmed its desire to admit Ukraine into NATO once the war is over.

“Our goal is to strengthen Ukraine’s credible defense and deterrence capabilities for the long term,” U.S. President Joe Biden said after signing the agreement on Thursday. “A lasting peace for Ukraine must be underwritten by Ukraine’s own ability to defend itself now and to deter future aggression anytime in the future.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, stated that the agreement constituted a path “to guarantee sustainable peace, and, therefore, it benefits everyone in the world because the Russian war against Ukraine is a real, real global threat.”

With geopolitical tensions already mounting over the conflict, the Biden administration also recently announced that it had approved the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to be used by the Ukrainian military to strike targets within Russia’s internationally recognized borders, a move that was followed by the United Kingdom. After Putin recently threatened to strike Western targets within Ukraine and potentially beyond, the White House responded with a warning of its own.

“My response to Mr. Putin is this,” National Security Council Communications Adviser John Kirby told reporters Monday. “If you’re so worried about becoming the victim of attacks and you’re worried about your troops’ livelihoods and your military units, then get the hell out of Ukraine. You don’t have any business being there in the first place.”

U.S. and European officials have also repeatedly warned Russia may seek further expansion in the former Soviet sphere of influence if not defeated in Ukraine, an argument dismissed by Antonov. He instead asserted that it was Washington looking to empower its foothold on the continent.

“The notorious ‘Russian threat’ and undisguised crazy ‘scary stories’ about our alleged readiness to attack NATO if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine are nothing but an embodiment of the United States’ intentions to keep a tight rein on its satellites, primarily in Europe,” Antonov said. “The aim is to finally turn the continent into the U.S. ‘back yard’, which is not entitled to its own opinions nor its own history.”

“Here in D.C.,” he added, “they apparently prefer not to notice that by pursuing such policy the Administration is undermining ‘American leadership.'”

Antonov also criticized the decisions by the U.S. and its allies to repurpose $50 billion in frozen Russian assets amid ongoing sanctions to be used to help fund the Ukrainian war effort.

“Just think about how Washington justifies this step (and it’s no secret that the United States was the main lobbyist for this ‘robbery in broad daylight’),” Antonov said. “High-ranking officials claim without a shadow of a doubt that this measure cannot be considered a theft.”

“Based on this logic, the income of a person who has financed, say, the U.S. government debt, doesn’t actually belong to the investor,” he added. “But what about the fundamental, basic rules of the Western financial system? This is just another example of the ‘rules-based world order,’ when any principle can be reinterpreted in one’s own interests. And if questions arise, a mantra is used: ‘Oh, you don’t understand, this is something different.'”

‘Ready’ to Talk

Biden and Zelensky have meanwhile cast serious skepticism on Moscow’s intentions in actually pursuing peace. Washington has maintained that it would not pursue talks without the presence of Kyiv, which unveiled its own 10-point proposal during the height of the conflict in 2022.

The plan, still championed by Zelensky at international conferences such as the recent summit in Switzerland, involves the total withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory, including the five claimed provinces, a special tribunal to investigate allegations of Russian war crimes and security guarantees for Ukraine, among other demands aimed at preventing further escalations.

While Putin and Zelensky continue to maintain virtually opposite positions on what a deal to end the war could look like, Antonov remained adamant that Moscow was open to diplomacy. He emphasized, however, that Russia was in no rush.

“Russia pursues dialogue and peace, the parameters of which should not be discussed in a hurry, just for the sake of it, as well as pretty propaganda photos,” Antonov said. “We remain ready for a serious, thoughtful conversation. We don’t set any deadlines.”

Such a conversation, Antonov argued, would also involve a broader discussion regarding the regional security architecture, one in which Russian and U.S. officials have long accused one another of promoting aggressive agendas.

“We invite all interested capitals to begin large-scale work to build truly equal and indivisible security in Eurasia, based on mutual respect for one and all,” Antonov said. “The new system could become the foundation of a new architecture reflecting transition to multipolarity. There will be no place for aggressive political and economic dominance of individual nations, as well as fragmentation into separate blocs.”

“This is the only way to prevent the outbreak of major international conflicts,” he said.

On the other hand, should the U.S. and its allies press forward with their plans to double down on assistance to Ukraine and economic restrictions against Russia, he warned the threat to international security would only rise.

“If in response we continue to hear only Russophobic barking and calls to use more Western weapons and economic sanctions against us, global risks will only increase,” Antonov said. “I am sure this is not in the best interests of the citizens of the United States.”