Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev said Thursday that some type of security guarantees for Ukraine “may be acceptable” following high-level talks at the White House in an attempt to revive stalled peace negotiations.
Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a close adviser to President Vladimir Putin, traveled to Washington this week in the first high-level Russian visit to the United States since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Dmitriev held two days of talks with American envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in Moscow last month as part of President Donald Trump’s push for a ceasefire and peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Hopes for a deal have petered out, with Kyiv accusing the Kremlin of repeatedly violating an agreement not to strike each other’s infrastructure and energy plants shortly after it was reached.
Speaking to Fox News, Dmitriev argued Ukraine had struck Russian energy targets, but claimed the White House talks had a “positive outcome” and conceded the Kremlin could be open to security guarantees for Kyiv.
“Some security guarantees in some form may be acceptable,” Dmitriev said, without specifying which ones. He ruled out Ukraine joining NATO as “not at all possible.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long argued that security guarantees, such as joining NATO or U.S. and European peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine, are the only way to ensure Moscow does not attack again.
Dmitriev’s remarks are a departure from the Kremlin’s usual positioning. Putin has said peace would only be possible if Ukraine undergoes “demilitarization,” while his top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, said Moscow “categorically” opposed European troops acting as peacekeepers.
Ukraine and its allies have accused Russia of stonewalling negotiations to end its three-year full-scale invasion by presenting a list of delaying conditions and demands while wanting to be seen as participating in peace talks.
Trump last month admitted those in the Kremlin could be “dragging their feet” on a ceasefire and last week said he was “pissed off” at Putin after the Russian called for Zelenskyy to be ousted.
Members of Trump’s inner circle have urged the American president not to accept a call from Putin until Moscow commits to a ceasefire, NBC reported Thursday.
Via Politico