Russia has not received nor seen any signals from Ukraine suggesting that it is ready for a ceasefire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti on Thursday. He was speaking after Italy’s Corriere della Sera claimed that Kiev is leaning toward a truce along the current front line in exchange for Western security guarantees.
Dmitry Litvin, who serves as a communications adviser to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, also denied the allegation, speaking to Ukrainian media. “We have the ‘peace formula’ which says clearly what Ukraine views as a just peace,” the official stressed.
Ahead of the Ukrainian leader’s upcoming visit to Rome, part of a tour of several European capitals, Corriere della Sera reported that for political reasons Zelensky cannot officially relinquish Kiev’s claim to the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as well as Crimea, which are all part of the Russian Federation and entirely or partially under Moscow’s control. However, the Ukrainian leader “would be ready for a ceasefire along the current line – without recognizing a new official border – in exchange for some Western commitments,” according to the Italian daily.
The article alleged that Kiev could settle for US security guarantees, similar to those provided to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. As for Italy, Germany and France, Zelensky reportedly hopes to receive assurances from these countries that Ukraine will have fast-track accession to the European Union.
Corriere della Sera attributed the supposed softening of the Ukrainian leader’s stance to the accelerating Russian advance in Donbass in September, as well as the fact that the Ukrainian military is currently outnumbered and outgunned.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg, citing anonymous NATO officials, also reported that Zelensky could have adopted a “more flexible approach” recently. The article suggested that Ukrainian officials had been more open to the idea of concessions to Russia, though it didn’t specify what they might be.
The media outlet also named the provision of Western security guarantees as one of the prerequisites that would convince Kiev to cease hostilities along the current front line.
In his public statements, Zelensky still insists that any talks with the Kremlin can only start after the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from all the territories Kiev has lost to Moscow since 2014.
Russia has dismissed Ukraine’s ‘peace formula,’ with President Vladimir Putin saying in June that he was ready to declare a truce as long as Kiev recognizes the new “reality on the ground” and gives a legally binding commitment to neutrality, which would preclude its accession to NATO.