Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to have rejected a condition put forth by US President-Elect Donald Trump to end the war which mandates delaying Ukraine's NATO membership for 10-20 years.
The suggestion was mooted by Trump's team in early November 2024. However, Putin rejected the condition as evidenced by his response to a journalist on Thursday. Putin stated that it does not matter if Ukraine joins NATO "today, tomorrow, or in 10 years," according to a report by the Institute For The Study of War (ISW).
The Russian President's statement comes as Russia reiterated that it won't compromise on its 2021-2022 demands which include forcing Ukraine to become a permanently neutral state that will never join NATO, cutting to size of its military and removal of the Ukrainian government.
This was what exactly Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated on Thursday, when he described the current Ukrainian government as illegitimate, and hence cannot be a negotiating partner for Russia.
"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not legitimate according to Ukraine's constitution and that Ukraine needs to hold presidential elections," Lavrov added. This also hints at Russia's refusal to engage in negotiations with the Zelenskyy government and its insistence on regime change in Kyiv as a precondition for negotiations.
However, a statement by Lavrov released by the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia was always willing to hold talks. "We have always been in favour of it never beginning which fact is corroborated by our support for the document signed by Yanukovich and the opposition in February 2014. It was guaranteed by European countries, but the opposition tore it up the next morning. We also supported the Minsk agreements, which stopped the Kyiv regime’s terrorist attack against its citizens in Donbass. President Vladimir Putin keeps referring to the fact that we supported the Istanbul Accords in April 2022, which were also largely torn up at the behest of the West," Lavrov said, adding that Russia needed "serious concrete proposals".
"When we have them, we will decide on how to respond to them based on our national interests, the goals of the special military operation, and President Vladimir Putin’s June 14 speech at the Foreign Ministry," he added.
Meanwhile, the Russian President, while speaking at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC) meeting in St. Petersburg, said he was confident of Russia's victory in its conflict with Ukraine. "I believe in God. And God is with us," he added.
