Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed a desire for peace in Ukraine while continuing to reject a comprehensive ceasefire and sustaining a full-scale invasion that began nearly five years ago. The Kremlin has clarified its prerequisite: a "new, long-term architecture of indivisible security and peace."
This framework, as articulated by Moscow after discussions with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, reflects Russia's intent to reshape Europe's security arrangements. The proposal echoes draft treaties Moscow initially presented to the U.S. and NATO in December 2021.
Those treaties called for a halt to NATO's eastward expansion, including guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia would never join the alliance. They also demanded the rollback of NATO military infrastructure from Central and Eastern European countries that joined after the Soviet Union dissolved.
Western leaders dismissed the 2021 demands as an "unacceptable Russian ultimatum." Two months later, in February 2022, Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has now revived these draft treaties.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, indicated that Moscow plans to introduce "certain new considerations" to its list of demands, citing what Russia perceives as Western efforts to inflict a "strategic defeat" on it.
Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, characterized Russia's demands for a new European security architecture as a "trap designed to shift attention away from a ceasefire." She advocated for a ceasefire as the immediate priority, followed by a peace agreement, with discussions on Europe's wider security architecture only afterward.
Europe itself has largely been excluded from negotiations. Moscow has shown reluctance to include European leaders in talks, criticizing them for military support to Kyiv and their stance against Russia. Peace discussions held this week in Abu Dhabi involved representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the U.S.
After his Moscow discussions, U.S. envoy Witkoff suggested Putin had agreed to the concept of including a European representative in future talks.
