The Kremlin says it's not just the territories that stand in the way of a peace deal with Ukraine

Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign policy adviser, said on Thursday that it is not only the issue of territories that stands in the way of a possible agreement to end the war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022, reports Reuters.

Russia wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the roughly 20 percent of Donetsk region that the Russian military does not control. On the other hand, Kiev said that it does not want to give Moscow territories that it did not conquer on the battlefield.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that active efforts are being made to reconcile the positions in US-mediated talks. He described this dispute as a “very difficult” key issue to resolve.

Asked on Thursday if he agreed that only the issue of territories remained unresolved, councilor Yuri Ushakov replied: “I don't think so.”

What Lavrov said

Russia's foreign minister said Moscow's main demands for peace in Ukraine remain unchanged, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday.

Sergei Lavrov told reporters that Moscow's main demands, as outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin, remain unchanged.

At the same time, he stated that the Russian side has no information about the security guarantees that could have been agreed between the United States and Ukraine.

Russia will look at “real proposals” and not focus on “those very public games,” the Russian official said.

“Dmitri Peskov (spokesman of the Russian president, no) has already said that, unlike the Ukrainians, we do not publicly comment on the negotiations, which should remain confidential,” Lavrov said.

The press will be informed about the progress of the negotiations “when everything is already clear”, he added.

Putin's demand that Ukraine cede areas of Donetsk that Moscow still does not control, about 5,000 square kilometers, has proven to be a major obstacle to any deal. Most countries recognize Donetsk as part of Ukraine. Putin says Donetsk is part of Russia's “historical territories,” according to Reuters.

“It's still a hurdle to overcome. It's still a difference, but at least we've narrowed it down to a central issue, which is probably going to be very difficult,” Rubio said Wednesday at a hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.