Russia Says No Ukraine Ceasefire Without Tackling War’s Root Causes

Russia said it cannot accept a peace proposal that would simply freeze the war in Ukraine along the current front line.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told TASS in an Aug. 10 interview that “as Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed, no freeze is possible without addressing the root causes of this crisis.”

He said Russia remains committed to achieving the goals of what Moscow calls its “special military operation” while also being ready to implement the Anchorage agreements, signaling openness to a political and diplomatic solution.

Since the summit in Anchorage, Alaska, in August last year, Russia has maintained that it would freeze the southeastern front and sign a peace agreement if Ukraine cedes the entire eastern Donbas region.

The remarks came as a U.S. mediation team including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner was set to make consecutive visits to Kyiv and Moscow.

Galuzin said U.S. mediation efforts run counter to Washington’s stated desire for peace because it continues to supply weapons and intelligence to Ukraine.

He also claimed Ukrainian forces were hurting the negotiating atmosphere by carrying out drone attacks on civilian energy infrastructure, including pipelines operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, or CPC.

Ukraine’s Kyiv Post, citing Galuzin’s comments, said they suggested Russia had no intention of merely stopping the fighting unless broader political and territorial demands were met.

Park Sang-kyung, Hankyung.com reporter highseoul@hankyung.com