Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Sunday that a group of nations, including the permanent members of the UN Security Council, should act as guarantors of Ukraine’s security.
Reuters reported last week that President Vladimir Putin seeks Ukraine’s renunciation of the entire eastern Donbas region, abandonment of ambitions to join NATO, maintenance of neutrality, and prohibition of Western troops on its territory.
Lavrov told NBC News’ program Meet the Press that Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump had discussed the issue of a security guarantee for Ukraine and that Putin had raised again the failed Istanbul talks of 2022.
During those discussions, Russia and Ukraine debated Ukraine’s permanent neutrality in exchange for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council—Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States—as well as other countries, according to a draft agreement seen by Reuters in 2022.
Lavrov said the guarantor group could also include Germany, Turkey, and other nations.
“And the guarantors will ensure the security of Ukraine, which must be neutral, not aligned with any military bloc, and non-nuclear,” he stated, according to a transcript published by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
He also clarified that NATO membership for Ukraine is unacceptable to Russia, that Moscow seeks protection for Russian speakers in Ukraine, and that territorial discussions must take place directly between Russia and Ukraine.
