EXCLUSIVE: Russian Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy "Ukraine's Society Must be Changed"

Russia's Military Buildup (2021): Russia began increasing its military presence near Ukraine in April 2021. One cited reason was Ukraine’s President Zelensky signing a law about reclaiming Crimea, possibly by force.

Pre-War Tensions and Justification: Russia claimed Ukraine rejected the Minsk agreements, escalated threats toward Donbas, and was preparing a March 2022 attack. Russia labeled its invasion as a preemptive strike to protect Donetsk and Luhansk amid intensified Ukrainian shelling and refugee flows into Russia.

Diplomatic Attempts: Russia asserted it had tried to engage with the West, NATO, and the U.S. diplomatically before launching the invasion, proposing treaties on European security.

Sanctions and Resilience: Russia argued that Western sanctions have not crippled its economy. They claimed economic self-reliance and even growth, and dismissed the notion that more sanctions or arms for Ukraine would change the war’s outcome.

View on U.S. Strategy: Russia rejected claims that more pressure from the U.S. would bring them to the negotiating table, asserting they’ve always been open to peace talks but won’t stop the war unless their terms are met.

Trump’s Alleged Peace Plan: Russia declined to comment on speculative reports of Trump’s seven-point peace proposal, saying such media stories aren’t reliable or official.

Putin’s Official Conditions (as of June 2024): Russia demands Ukraine:

Withdraw from all four claimed regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson),

Commit to neutrality, non-alignment, and no nuclear weapons,

Undergo “demilitarization” and “denazification.”

Verification and Trust Issues: Russia insists future peace would require enforceable guarantees, especially monitoring mechanisms, which they say failed under the Minsk agreements.

Failed Ceasefire Attempts: Russia accused Ukraine of violating a 30-day energy infrastructure truce and an Easter ceasefire, calling them proof that Ukraine is untrustworthy or lacks internal command control.

Definitions of Terms (brief mention):

Demilitarization: Likely involves limiting Ukraine's military capacity to a level deemed non-threatening by Russia (referencing Istanbul draft agreements from 2022).

Denazification: Not clearly defined here, but remains a stated condition for ending the war.

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