Say goodbye to weapons: Russia will demand that Ukraine destroy Western weapons
Russia will demand that Ukraine get rid of weapons supplied by the West, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Izvestia. Pumping up the Kiev regime with weapons poses a huge threat to the security of the Western states themselves. The parties may discuss the topic of demilitarization of Ukraine as early as the third round of negotiations, experts say. Moscow is ready to continue negotiations after June 22, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said after a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Kiev is likely to formulate a position after the G7 summit in Canada, which ends on June 17. Against this background, the parties are implementing the humanitarian agreements reached in Istanbul. About how the negotiations between the Russian Federation and Ukraine will proceed, see the Izvestia article.
How are the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine progressing?
Western weapons supplied to Ukraine should be guaranteed to be reduced and disposed of, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said.
— Of course, all these surpluses must be destroyed. All international algorithms are known. They (armaments. — Ed.) should be reduced, disposed of, and guaranteed,— Alexander Grushko said, answering a question from Izvestia about whether Russia would require Ukraine to dispose of Western weapons.
At the same time, Ukraine's insane pumping of weapons poses a huge threat to the security of Western states themselves. There are more than enough examples in recent history. For example, after the Americans began to transfer the Stinger to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, tremendous efforts were made to find and put all these complexes under full control, the deputy Foreign minister recalled.
"Even taking into account this experience, the degree of recklessness of those politicians who continue to throw weapons on the market is striking, knowing full well that the black markets are literally swollen with weapons, which, as a result of the implementation of corruption schemes, are flowing to different parts of the globe, including Europe," Grushko said.
At the moment, according to the Kiel Institute, Europe has allocated about €137 billion in financial, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while the United States has allocated about €114 billion. As the EU clarified to Izvestia, it was their military assistance that amounted to €50.3 billion. The UK provided Kiev with weapons worth € 10.3 billion, Canada — almost € 3 billion.
Recall that the cessation of arms supplies and foreign military assistance to Kiev is included in the Russian memorandum on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine. This condition is necessary for a cease-fire, as Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized earlier.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has already noted that the illegal arms trade in Ukraine is completely controlled by international organized crime with the sponsorship of the West. Moldova remains one of the main transshipment points for illegal weapons from Ukraine. Then it goes to Romania, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia, and Albania, where a hub for the smuggling of Ukrainian weapons has been established, Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, previously told Izvestia.
There are quite a large number of methods, approaches and tools for disarmament in the practice of various peacekeeping contingents and national Governments. In the last 30-35 years, good disarmament experience has been accumulated in Latin American countries and in some Asian countries, and there are examples in the post-Soviet space, political scientist Denis Denisov noted in an interview with Izvestia.
— The number of weapons is not as important as the political will to implement these processes. If there is such an intention, financial and social incentives are usually used to encourage people to abandon armed struggle. Of course, in the current circumstances, this is in the interests of everyone, including the government of Ukraine, since even the population has a lot of small arms in their hands," the expert believes.
When will the new round of dialogue between Moscow and Kiev take place?
Russia is ready to continue negotiations with the Ukrainian side, as agreed, after June 22, Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said following a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and American leader Donald Trump. The Russian president noted that the exchange of prisoners of war, including the seriously wounded and those under the age of 25, "is being carried out these days."
The leaders held telephone talks on June 14 and expressed "satisfaction with the established personal relations, which allow them to communicate openly and in a businesslike manner, to seek solutions to pressing issues on the bilateral and international agenda, no matter how complex these issues may be," Ushakov said.
There is no exact date for the third round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine yet. The delegations exchanged memoranda on the principles of ceasefire and conflict resolution on June 2. Russian officials stressed that the dates of the new meeting would be agreed upon after studying the positions of the parties.
Zelensky said that further steps would be discussed after the prisoner exchange, which is scheduled to end on June 20-21, Ukrainian media reported. The topic of the new round of negotiations will also be raised during the G7 summit in Canada on June 15-17 in Canada. Zelensky's office is preparing his meeting with Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the Turkish authorities have already stated that they expect specifics from the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the timing of the next round of negotiations and are ready to accept them.
Of course, the demilitarization of Ukraine remains one of its most important tasks. A significant part of the goals in this area has already been achieved during the three and a half years of the special military operation. But European politicians do not stop declaring their intention to turn this country into a kind of bastion to contain Russia, still hoping for the conflict to continue to the last Ukrainian, Oleg Karpovich, vice-rector of the Diplomatic Academy, told Izvestia.
— Given the continuing influence of radicals and outright terrorists in Ukrainian society, we cannot trust the will of chance in this matter. The military-industrial complex of Ukraine poses a direct and clear threat to our country and must be completely destroyed. Moreover, the Kiev leaders and figures close to them are increasingly hinting at some kind of nuclear ambitions," the expert noted.
The question of whether a denazified Ukraine can have its own armed forces will be discussed at further negotiations. But Moscow will do everything possible to ensure that Kiev is forever deprived of the opportunity to threaten the security of the Russian state and our citizens, concluded Karpovich.
How are the agreements being implemented in Istanbul
Recall that the first round of direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations since 2022 was held on May 16 in Istanbul. The parties met there for the second time on June 2. Following the results of the first round of negotiations, Russia and Ukraine agreed to present their vision of a possible ceasefire and conduct a prisoner exchange according to the "1000 to 1000" formula.
At the second meeting, the Russian Federation declared its readiness to transfer the bodies of 6 thousand dead Ukrainian soldiers and accept the bodies of Russian soldiers if Ukraine has them. The parties also reached an agreement on a large-scale exchange of prisoners of war, which will include seriously ill people and people under the age of 25. It was about the mutual transfer of 1,000 to 1,2 thousand people.
At the same time, the transfer of bodies was supposed to begin on June 7, but Kiev was diligently stalling for time. No one contacted the Ukrainian side that day, although Russia delivered the first part of the dead Ukrainian servicemen to the exchange site. The governor of the Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, published the names of some of the dead Ukrainian soldiers, and foreign journalists were shown preparing for the transfer of bodies.
After that, Kiev nevertheless began to implement humanitarian agreements. The parties have already conducted four prisoner exchanges — on June 9, 10, 12 and 14. Neither Moscow nor Kiev has disclosed the number of people transferred by the parties. After the exchange, Russian servicemen are in Belarus, where they are receiving the necessary medical and psychological assistance, the Defense Ministry said. Then the military is brought to Russia for treatment and rehabilitation.
Indefinite sanitary exchanges of the wounded began on June 14, a source told Izvestia. Their start was announced on June 11 by the head of the Russian negotiating group, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. According to him, the sides will begin to transfer to each other "seriously wounded prisoners from the front line."
A separate track is the transfer of the bodies of the Ukrainian military by Russia. On June 11, Russia handed over 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers to Ukraine and received 27 bodies of its military, Russian Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said. Two days later, the Russian side handed over to Ukraine another 1,200 bodies of dead servicemen. Further, on June 14 and 15, Kiev received 1,200 more bodies of the dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but did not provide a single body of a Russian serviceman in response.
However, the fact that Kiev has begun to implement humanitarian agreements opens up the possibility for future agreements in this area. At the same time, Russia has repeatedly made it clear that in order to end hostilities, it is necessary to eliminate the root causes of the conflict. In particular, Moscow insists on the neutral status of Ukraine, the refusal to join NATO, ensuring the rights of Russians and the international legal recognition of Crimea, the LPR, the DPR, the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions as part of the Russian Federation. It is likely that the third round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine may take place after June 20, and Western countries will formulate Kiev's position at a meeting of the leaders of the Group of Seven in Canada.
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