Russia returns to December 2021 demands at talks with US in Moscow

Russia, at talks with American envoys in Moscow on November 12, returned to the demands of December 2021 — two months before the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This is evidenced by a Russian position paper seen by journalists: President Vladimir Putin repeated the previous wording verbatim.

According to the document, Moscow demands the withdrawal of NATO troops to the 1997 borders, including from the eastern flank — from Poland and the Baltic states — as well as a ban on further expansion of the alliance and on 'any military activity' in Ukraine, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia. In addition, the paper calls for an end to NATO nuclear exchanges and a ban on France and Britain using their nuclear forces to protect European allies. Moscow also insists on a complete halt to Western military aid to Ukraine, including supplies of weapons, equipment and defense products. Moscow is ready to approve Ukraine's accession to the EU only if Kyiv is excluded from the bloc's common defense policy.

The talks in the Kremlin with US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took place on November 12. Two sources familiar with the course of the meeting said that Russian negotiators cited the Cold War and the Warsaw Pact as a model for post-war security in Europe, although officials hinted that Putin might show 'flexibility.' Witkoff and Kushner, in turn, told the Russian representatives that circumstances had changed since December 2021.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on November 12 in Dublin condemned these demands, saying that accepting them would be a 'direct threat to Poland's security' and would remain unacceptable to Ukraine and Europe.

The Kremlin talks followed two days of trilateral consultations Ukraine — Russia — United States in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11. European representatives were shut out of the main sessions and held separate consultations with the Ukrainian and American delegations.

Russian presidential aide for foreign policy Yuri Ushakov said on November 12 that Putin and US President Donald Trump plan to continue discussing a settlement at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18-19, and also to hold the proposed trilateral meeting with PRC President Xi Jinping.

Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders have repeatedly rejected any peace arrangements agreed without Kyiv and Europe. Speaking on November 12 at the European Political Community summit in Dublin, Zelensky urged partners to support winter resilience plans for Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and other cities that are being hit by Russian strikes.