Russian official lays out Kremlin's demands in peace talks with Ukraine
Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (GettyImages)
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, in an interview with the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet, stated that Ukraine is allegedly supposed to enshrine its "denazification" and "demilitarization" in a peace agreement that will be concluded with the Russian Federation.
In addition, according to him, Kyiv must abandon legal claims against Russia, cancel sanctions, and return frozen Russian assets.
Specifically, according to Lavrov, the "Kyiv regime" allegedly does not represent the population of the southeast of Ukraine — namely, Crimea, Sevastopol, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
"On the agenda — the task of demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions, the withdrawal of all legal claims against Russia, and the return of its assets illegally seized in the West. All these provisions must be stipulated in a legally binding agreement on a peaceful settlement," Lavrov repeated the Kremlin’s list of propagandistic demands.
At the same time, Lavrov stated that Russia allegedly remains open to a political-diplomatic resolution of the war, but it must be about a strong peace, not a ceasefire.
Negotiations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation
Ukraine and Russia held two rounds of negotiations in Istanbul in May and June 2025. Moscow sent a low-level delegation to Türkiye, headed by the so-called historian Vladimir Medinsky.
The Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations was led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The main priority for Kyiv was achieving a ceasefire, but Moscow refused to support a truce.
Instead, the key result of the negotiations was agreements on prisoner exchanges. After the second round, which took place on June 2, the sides have already conducted eight stages of exchanges.
At the same time, for a ceasefire, Moscow demands that Ukrainian defenders begin withdrawing from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. The complete withdrawal of troops from the above-mentioned regions is also a condition for ending the war.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted, such a peace plan by the Russian Federation contradicts the UN Charter, common sense, and the Constitution of Ukraine.
