MOSCOW

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that security guarantees for Ukraine should not be a precondition for negotiations, but rather a consequence of a peaceful settlement, taking into account the root causes of the conflict.

“It is essential to understand that providing security guarantees is not a precondition, but a result of achieving a peaceful resolution based on eliminating the underlying reasons behind the crisis in Ukraine. This, in turn, will ensure the safety of our country,” Zakharova told a press briefing in Moscow.

She outlined what the outcomes of negotiations should entail: demilitarization, denazification, neutrality, non-alignment, and non-nuclear status for Ukraine, recognition of territorial realities, protection of rights for Russians and Russian-speaking populations, and cessation of persecution of the Orthodox Church.

She highlighted that proposals for security guarantees put forth by Western countries might lead only to instability, noting that Western nations seek to undermine Ukraine's neutral, non-bloc, and non-nuclear status.

“This approach violates the principle of indivisible security and consolidates Kyiv's role as a strategic provocateur on Russia's borders, increasing the risk of drawing NATO into armed confrontation with our country. This tactic is widely described in international legal literature; nothing new here. So, we see such a strategic provocateur emerging near our frontiers,” she stressed.