Peace talks brokered by the Trump administration are set to resume in Abu Dhabi this week. However, statements by senior Russian officials confirm that the Kremlin’s demands for Ukraine remain unchanged, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
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In particular, the Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, during a three-way interview with Reuters, the TASS news agency, and pro-Russian blogger Semyon Pegov, confirmed that Russia is not changing its demands on Ukraine and rejects any proposals for security guarantees for Ukraine.
Medvedev noted that President Vladimir Putin voiced these demands back in June 2024. He also stated that Putin conveyed these conditions to the United States during the US-Russia summit in Alaska in August 2025. Analysts recall that during his speech in June 2024, Putin demanded that Ukraine and NATO capitulate to Russia's initial demands, in particular, agree to the transfer of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, including the unoccupied parts of these regions.
Russia's main demands include Ukraine's neutrality (with the Kremlin being able to dictate its international policy), demilitarization (i.e. a significant reduction in the size of Ukraine's armed forces so that Ukraine cannot effectively defend itself), and denazification (the creation of a pro-Russian puppet government in place of the current one). The ISW also emphasizes that Medvedev has stated that Russia considers the “dismantling” of the Ukrainian government to be an extremely important task, and that the current Ukrainian government, in his opinion, should disappear.
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In addition, he again expressed doubts about the legitimacy of the Ukrainian government and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Medvedev categorically rejected the proposal of the Coalition of those willing to station foreign troops on the territory of Ukraine after the end of the war, stating that Russia would consider NATO troops as “legitimate targets.”
“Medvedev probably specifically participated in this three-way interview in order to convey Russia's demands to the domestic audience, ultra-nationalist circles, as well as English-language media and international organizations,” ISW analysts note.
As “FACTS” wrote, Western media outlets previously reported that Ukraine does not believe in US President Donald Trump's negotiations, is digging trenches, and is preparing to fight for decades.
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