Russia to Ensure Kiev Never Poses Threat Again — Upper House Speaker

Valentina Matviyenko said that Russia is consistent in its approaches, starting with defining the goals of a special military operation and ending with the requirements and conditions for signing a peace treaty

Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko Sergey Fadeichev/TASS

© Sergey Fadeichev/TASS

MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. Russia's main conditions in negotiations with Ukraine are to ensure sustainable peace and that Kiev never poses a threat again, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko told a news conference.

"We have conceptual things, our president has repeatedly stated them as well as the foreign minister. They are clear, distinct and specific. These are the red lines that we will never cross, these are the positions that we will never give up, because we do not need any short-term solutions: to please someone, to meet absolutely unacceptable demands - to stop fighting for a few days. Our main conditions are to ensure a stable peace in the future, and that no threat to Russia ever again emanates from the territory of Ukraine. And we will achieve these goals," she said.

Matviyenko said that Russia is consistent in its approaches, starting with defining the goals of a special military operation and ending with the requirements and conditions for signing a peace treaty. "We are not changing them [conditions and goals], unlike the Ukrainian side, who are working like thimble swindlers and offering absolutely unacceptable conditions, knowing in advance that they cannot be accepted," she said. "But negotiations exist to bring positions closer, clarify positions, and find mutually acceptable formulations."

About negotiations

On July 23, Istanbul hosted the third round of direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement. Before the full meeting, the heads of the delegations, Vladimir Medinsky and Rustem Umerov, had a one-on-one conversation. The full-fledged negotiations lasted about 40 minutes, during which the parties discussed the positions set out in the draft memoranda and agreed to exchange not only soldiers, but also civilians. Russia has proposed to Ukraine to create three online working groups to address political, military and humanitarian issues. Moscow also offered Kiev to transfer 3,000 more bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, as well as to return to short humanitarian pauses on the front line to collect the wounded and bodies of the dead.

The decision on the fourth round of negotiations will be made after the new agreements have been implemented, Medinsky said.