Western proposals only serve to destabilize the region, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said

Security guarantees for Ukraine must be the result of a settlement of the conflict with Russia, not a precondition for negotiations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

Kiev has demanded security guarantees from its Western backers as a prerequisite to a peace deal. Moscow has not ruled out guarantees in principle, but opposes efforts to design them without Russia's participation.

At a press briefing on Friday, Zakharova said any guarantees must be based on an "understanding that takes into account the security interests of Russia." She added that a settlement must ensure Ukraine's demilitarization, denazification, neutral and non-nuclear status, and recognition of the territorial realities.

"It is necessary to understand that providing security guarantees is not a condition, but a result of a peaceful settlement based on eliminating the root causes of the conflict in Ukraine, which, in turn, will guarantee the security of our country," she said.

Zakharova criticized the Western proposals put forward so far, warning they would only "lead to destabilization."

"The options proposed by the Collective West are one-sided, built with the obvious expectation of containing Russia... they increase the risk of NATO being drawn into an armed conflict with our country," she said, adding that they would "secure Kiev's role as a strategic provocateur on Russia's borders."

Kiev earlier pushed for NATO membership as a security guarantee, but US President DonaldTrumphas ruled this out. Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky and his European backers have also called for "Article 5-like guarantees" obligating the US-led military bloc to act if Ukraine is attacked. European policymakers have also considered sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers and creating a buffer zone with Western patrols. Moscow has rejected the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine, whether as peacekeepers or otherwise.

Moscow and Kiev have held three rounds of talks in the past three months, leading to major prisoner swaps. While a breakthrough has not been reached, US envoy Steve Witkoff said this week that Washington hopes to settle the conflict by the end of 2025, citing a "peace proposal on the table" and ongoing contact with Russian and Ukrainian officials.

(RT.com)