Russia will seek to exclude Ukraine from Nato membership as part of its “ironclad” guarantees for a peace deal, according to the country’s deputy foreign minister.
In an interview published on Monday with the Russian outlet Izvestia, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that any long-lasting peace treaty with Ukraine must meet Moscow’s demands.
“We will demand that ironclad security guarantees become part of this agreement,” Mr Grushko told the outlet.
“Part of these guarantees should be the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal of Nato countries to accept it into the alliance.”
Donald Trump is expected to speak to Vladimir Putin this week as Washington continues to press Moscow to accept a 30-day ceasefire proposal.
Putin has previously said that crucial conditions must be met in order for him to agree to any deal.
Britain and France are both willing to send a peacekeeping force to monitor a ceasefire. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also said his country was also open to requests.
However, Moscow remains categorically against the deployment of Nato observers to Ukraine.
Mr Grushko said a deployment of unarmed post-conflict observers could be only discussed once a peace deal had been agreed.
“In the meantime, it’s just hot air,” he said.
Mr Grushko added: “It does not matter under what label Nato contingents were to be deployed on Ukrainian territory: be it the European Union, Nato, or in a national capacity.
“If they appear there, it means that they are deployed in the conflict zone with all the consequences for these contingents as parties to the conflict.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that the stationing of peacekeeping troops in Ukraine was a question for Kyiv to decide and not Moscow.
Mr Grushko said European allies of Kyiv should understand that only the exclusion of Ukraine’s membership in Nato and the elimination of the possibility of deploying foreign military contingents on its territory would work for the region.
“Then the security of Ukraine and the entire region in a broader sense will be ensured, since one of the root causes of the conflict will be eliminated,” he said.