August M
Russia has sharply dismissed any role for the European Union in guaranteeing or monitoring a potential peace deal in Ukraine. Moscow says the bloc is no longer a neutral actor and cannot be trusted in any ceasefire arrangement.
The remarks come as diplomatic activity intensifies around possible security guarantees for Kyiv, reports HotNews.ro.
Moscow draws line
The European Union cannot act as a guarantor or observer of a ceasefire in Ukraine because it is “part of the conflict,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Friday, according to EFE and Agerpres.
“To talk about any kind of observer or guarantor role in the case of the European Union, given the catastrophic experience accumulated in recent years and the subversive role of the EU, is absolutely unimaginable,” Grushko said, quoted by Interfax.
“It is unimaginable and everyone understands that,” he added.
Context of talks
Grushko’s comments followed statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that a document outlining US security guarantees for Ukraine is ready to be signed.
Addressing the US Senate, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said those guarantees could involve the deployment of European troops on the ground, though without the presence of American forces.
The idea has already met firm resistance from Moscow.
Russian objections
Russia has repeatedly rejected any deployment of Western troops in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials argue that NATO’s expansion towards Russia’s borders was a central cause of the war.
The Kremlin has also accused European supporters of Ukraine of deliberately proposing conditions Moscow considers unacceptable, in order to portray Russia as unwilling to pursue peace.
These include sending European peacekeepers after a potential agreement, demanding war “reparations” from Russia, or ruling out any territorial concessions by Ukraine.
Competing guarantees
Zelensky has called for security guarantees comparable to Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, which commits members to collective defence. He has not, however, disclosed details of the document he says is finalised.
Western media have reported that US President Donald Trump has linked any US security guarantees to Ukraine withdrawing fully from the Donbas region, a key demand repeatedly set out by Putin as a condition for ending the war.
For now, Moscow’s message is clear: the EU will not be accepted at the table as a neutral guarantor.
Sources: HotNews.ro, EFE, Agerpres, Interfax
