Russia revived its late-2021 demands for NATO to pull back to its 1997 borders during peace talks with US envoys in Moscow on Nov. 12, The New York Times reported, citing a copy of a Russian position paper.
During Kremlin talks with US Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated positions word-for-word from December 2021, two months before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
According to the unsigned Russian document, Moscow is demanding the withdrawal of NATO troops from its eastern flank, including Poland and the Baltic states, alongside a ban on further alliance enlargement and “any military activity” in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.
The paper also calls for ending NATO nuclear-sharing arrangements that allow US nuclear weapons to defend Europe, as well as barring France and the UK from using their nuclear deterrents to protect European allies.
Additionally, Russia demands a complete halt to Western military assistance to Ukraine, including the supply of weapons, military equipment, and defense products.
The document states that Moscow would only approve Ukraine joining the EU if Kyiv is excluded from the bloc’s common defense policy.
Two sources familiar with the talks told NYT that Russian negotiators framed the Cold War and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact as a model for post-war European security, though officials hinted Putin could still show “flexibility.”
Other Topics of Interest
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher that Russia is deliberately targeting Ukraine’s power, heating and food infrastructure ahead of winter.
Witkoff and Kushner told Russian officials that circumstances have changed since December 2021.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk condemned the demands in Dublin on Nov. 12, stating that accepting Russia’s conditions would pose “a direct threat to Poland’s security” and remain unacceptable to both Ukraine and Europe.
Broader context of the negotiations
The Kremlin talks followed two days of trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, Russia, and the US in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11.
European representatives were excluded from the core sessions in Abu Dhabi, holding separate consultations with Ukrainian and US delegations instead.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov stated on Nov. 12 that Putin and US President Donald Trump plan to continue settlement discussions during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 18-19, alongside a proposed trilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders have repeatedly rejected any peace arrangements negotiated without Kyiv and Europe at the table.
Speaking at the European Political Community summit in Dublin on Nov. 12, Zelensky also urged European partners to support winter resilience plans for Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and other cities targeted by ongoing Russian strikes.