Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused Kyiv and the EU of trying to derail a peace deal for Ukraine.
The Russian government alleges Ukraine intends to “torpedo” negotiations on a US plan to end the war in Ukraine. The revised version of the US plan unveiled by Ukrainian authorities a few days ago is “radically different” from the text Moscow discussed with Washington, Ryabkov said on Russian television on Friday, December 26.
“Ukrainian social media carried links to a 20-point plan. We know that this plan - if it can even be called a plan - is radically different from the 27 points we worked through with the American side in recent weeks, starting in early December,” Ryabkov said in an interview on the program “60 Minutes.”
According to the diplomat, Ukraine and its “sponsors, particularly in the European Union, who are not aiming for an agreement, have doubled their efforts to torpedo it”. “Without properly resolving the problems that are the root cause of this crisis - without that, there will be no path to a final agreement,” Ryabkov emphasized.
He added that any proposals must remain within the parameters set at the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, held in August in Alaska.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, after talks with US representatives, presented a new version of the American plan to end the war. The revised 20-point plan calls for freezing the current front line.
The document omits two of Moscow’s key demands: the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas and a legally binding renunciation by Ukraine of NATO membership.
Meanwhile, Zelensky told reporters on December 26 that the 20-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine is already 90% prepared. “Our task is to make sure everything is 100% ready,” he said, noting “it’s not easy.”
The Ukrainian leader said that at a planned December 28 meeting with US President Donald Trump he intends to discuss a package of documents related to security guarantees for Kyiv, as well as territorial issues and economic development, RBC-Ukraine reported.
Zelensky also said he plans to raise the issue that Moscow is not showing a willingness to sign the peace plan. “Russia is constantly looking for reasons not to agree. … If Ukraine shows its position—it is constructive—and Russia, for example, does not agree, that means there isn’t enough pressure,” the Ukrainian president said.
