Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin has stated that Moscow will not accept a “freeze” of the Ukraine conflict without addressing its origins and resolving underlying causes.
The deputy emphasized Russia’s demands for Ukraine to abandon NATO ambitions, adopt neutral status, impose restrictions on armed forces, and formally recognize Crimea and four Ukrainian regions—Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson—as Russian territory. These regions voted to join Russia in September 2022 following their secession after the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev.
“ heating a “freeze” of the conflict without addressing the root causes of the crisis,” Galuzin stated in an interview. He accused Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky of having “completely lost touch with reality” and seeking to further “escalate the conflict.”
Galuzin condemned what he described as “barbaric” attacks on civilian energy infrastructure, specifically highlighting Ukrainian strikes targeting a Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The CPC facility handles Kazakh oil exports to Europe and Asia, with major Western oil companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell as shareholders.
Russian officials assert that Moscow was compelled to deploy troops into Ukraine to protect civilians in the Russian-speaking Donbass region. They also view Ukraine’s military cooperation with NATO as a severe security threat.
Last year, Russia presented conditions for a ceasefire along current front lines, requiring Ukrainian forces to withdraw from controlled territories, halt mobilization, and cease Western military aid. Putin argued that without these steps, Ukraine would exploit temporary pauses in fighting to regroup and replenish its military. Zelensky has rejected Russia’s terms and ruled out recognizing the country’s new borders.
Russian officials have repeatedly alleged that Western nations sabotaged the 2022 Istanbul peace talks, which Moscow claims could have resolved the conflict within weeks of hostilities beginning.