Russia’s Foreign Ministry says conditions for peace include Ukraine recognizing ‘new territorial realities’ and Russian as state language

Russia’s deputy foreign minister Mikhail Galuzin outlined Moscow’s conditions for peace in an interview with TASS, a state news agency.

The deputy minister said that, first, Ukraine must stop hostilities and Western countries must stop supplying weapons to Ukraine. Galuzin also said that in order to achieve a “comprehensive, just and lasting peace,” Ukraine must adopt neutral, non-bloc status, and recognize “new territorial realities, caused by the realization of the right of people to self-determination.”

Galuzin added that Ukraine must refuse to join the EU and NATO, and protect the rights of Russian-speaking citizens and minorities: “Russian must be recognized as a state language at the legislative level.”

Russia had not previously demanded that Ukraine not join the EU or that it make Russian a state language. In June 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was not against Ukraine joining the EU, “because it is not a military organization, a military-political bloc, such as NATO.”

The Ukrainian leadership said the war would only end after Russian troops withdraw from Ukrainian territory.