רוסיה דוחה על הסף קיפאון באוקראינה: מוסקבה מציגה את תנאיה המלאים לסיום המלחמה

Russia's Conditions: No Ceasefire Without 'Root Causes' Addressed

Russia's position, unchanged since President Putin laid it out in June 2024 and reaffirmed by the Kremlin as recently as June 29, 2026, is a maximalist set of demands that amount to a full Ukrainian surrender . The conditions include:

• Full Ukrainian withdrawal from all four regions Moscow claims to have annexed: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts . Senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov explicitly demanded Ukrainian forces leave the remaining 20% of Donetsk region still under Kyiv's control, a condition the Institute for the Study of War notes Russia has not achieved on the battlefield . Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added in April 2026 that Ukraine 'should have pulled out of Donbas yesterday' .
• Abandonment of NATO membership. Ukraine must adopt permanent neutral, non-aligned status and renounce its constitutional aspiration to join the alliance .
• Formal recognition of Crimea and all four annexed regions as Russian territory .
• A written pledge from Western powers to halt NATO enlargement eastward .
• Restrictions on the size and capabilities of Ukraine's armed forces .
• A ban on any Western military presence or troops on Ukrainian soil .

Galuzin's comments were widely reported across Russian and international media, including TASS, the Kyiv Independent, and the Kyiv Post, which noted that the remarks 'suggest Moscow remains unwilling to support a simple halt in fighting without securing its broader political and territorial demands' . The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly framed these conditions as non-negotiable prerequisites for any cessation of hostilities.

Ukraine's Counter-Proposal: A Phased Ceasefire

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has proposed a fundamentally different pathway. Instead of territorial capitulation upfront, Ukraine advocates a phased, partial ceasefire without preconditions on recognition of Russian sovereignty. As of early August 2026, Ukraine has formally proposed three parallel ceasefire tracks :

• Front-line freeze — halting combat along the current line of contact.
• Air truce — a mutual halt to airstrikes.
• Energy infrastructure ceasefire — a mutual stop to strikes on power grids and energy facilities, first proposed in April 2026 and communicated to Moscow via the U.S. .

Zelenskyy also published an open letter to Putin on June 4, 2026, proposing direct talks and a full ceasefire for the duration of negotiations, with the U.S. monitoring the front line . In December 2025, he offered to create a demilitarized zone in parts of Donetsk still held by Ukraine, conditional on a reciprocal Russian pullback .

The key contrast is sequence: Russia demands territorial and political capitulation before a ceasefire; Ukraine proposes a ceasefire first, then negotiations on all outstanding issues.

Military and Diplomatic Developments Reinforcing the Impasse

Several converging factors have deepened the stalemate in mid-2026.

Collapsing air defenses. Ukraine's allies have supplied just one-third of the air defense interceptor missiles in 2026 compared with 2025, President Zelenskyy said on August 5, 2026 . This has reduced Ukraine's ability to protect cities and infrastructure from escalating Russian strikes, including bombardments on Kyiv and southern port hubs .

U.S. weapons diplomacy shifts. Zelenskyy met President Donald Trump at the White House on July 28, 2026, pressing for Patriot interceptor production licenses. A deal was reached for monthly deliveries of interceptors, though Zelenskyy cautioned the volume remains insufficient . Trump, after returning to office, halted direct U.S. arms deliveries to Kyiv, shifting to a model where European countries purchase U.S. weapons for Ukraine .

U.S.-Russia diplomatic contacts. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke with Zelenskyy on July 22, 2026, about reviving talks . The next day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Manila that continued U.S. arms sales to Ukraine were 'unacceptable' . Lavrov 'reaffirmed Russia's readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement' but only on the basis of the Putin-Trump Alaska proposals from August 2025 .

European mediation push. The leaders of Britain, Germany, and France issued a joint statement on June 7, 2026, supporting a Zelenskyy-Putin summit to secure a ceasefire, with Europe playing a mediating role . The Kremlin responded coolly, reiterating that its 2024 terms stand .

Neither side willing to budge. The Kremlin reaffirmed on June 29, 2026, that its terms are non-negotiable . Zelenskyy has stated Ukraine will fight on without a meaningful ceasefire . Galuzin's August 10, 2026, rejection of any front-line freeze was the most explicit dismissal of any compromise short of Russia's full demands . As the Institute for the Study of War noted, Russia's conditions are a 'battlefield objective that Russian forces have thus far failed to achieve' .