Russia says it is ready for ‘serious’ Ukraine peace proposals

MOSCOW: Russia is ready to consider “serious” proposals to settle the Ukraine conflict based on existing “realities” and Moscow’s security concerns, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday.

She also told a press briefing that Ukraine must pledge to remain militarily neutral in future. The conditions were identical to ones that Ukraine has several times rejected in the past.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is preparing for peace talks with Russia as there is “no way to win on the battlefield alone”, Kyiv’s deputy spy chief has said.

Maj Gen Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency, said both sides were currently vying for “the most favourable position” ahead of possible negotiations in 2025.

As with virtually all wars, negotiations will likely be the final stage of the conflict, he told the Economist.

The prospect of a peace deal with Russia has re-emerged as Ukraine’s forces – running low on manpower and ammunition – suffer setback after setback on the battlefield.

According to the Economist, Maj Gen Skibitsky said he did not see a way for Ukraine to win the war on the battlefield alone. If Ukraine was able to push Russian forces back to the border, it is unlikely to end the war, adding that such wars “can only end with treaties”.

Maj Gen Skibitsky predicted that peace talks could happen in late 2025, as he expects Russian arms production to plateau early the following year due to a shortage of engineers and supplies.

Russian counter-offensives in the northwestern regions of Kharkiv and Sumy are also anticipated, he said.

Ukraine and its Western partners are racing to distribute weapons into the hands of Kyiv’s soldiers in the coming weeks in order to prevent Russia from seizing more territory.

Maj Gen Skibitsky said Russia was trying to exploit its current advantage in weapons and manpower and is planning a major offensive this summer. “Our problem is very simple: We have no weapons,” he said.

He went on to paint a somewhat gloomy picture of Ukraine’s battlefield prospects, with particular concern for Chasiv Yar, a town occupying high-ground near Bakhmut, which Russia could soon capture. Seizing Chasiv Yar would allow Russian forces to advance through other towns and cities in the Donetsk region.

He said it was probably a matter of time until the fall of Chasiv Yar, “not today or tomorrow, of course, but all depending on our reserves and supplies”.

Maj Gen Skibitsky warned that Russia’s army is no longer the disorganised rabble that Ukraine repelled from some regions with such success in the early stages of the war.