Russia outlines peace terms: Ukraine must stay neutral with UN security guarantees, no Nato

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Ukraine’s security should be guaranteed by a group of nations that includes permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Speaking to NBC News’ Meet the Press in an interview published on Sunday, Lavrov noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had raised the issue of such guarantees in discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump, drawing a link to the failed Istanbul talks of 2022.

During those negotiations, Moscow and Kyiv had considered a framework under which Ukraine would adopt permanent neutrality in exchange for security assurances. According to a draft agreement reviewed by Reuters at the time, the guarantors were expected to include the five permanent Security Council members the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia along with several other countries.

Lavrov suggested that any future arrangement should again involve the Security Council powers and could also extend to Germany, Turkey and other states.

”And the guarantors would be guaranteeing the security of Ukraine, which must be neutral, which must be non-aligned with any military bloc and which must be non-nuclear,” Lavrov said, according to a transcript of the interview released by the foreign ministry.

Lavrov also made it clear that NATO membership for Ukraine was unacceptable for Russia, that Russia wanted protection for Russian speakers in Ukraine and that there was a territorial discussion to be had with Ukraine.

With inputs from agencies