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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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Russia said it did not want to hold negotiations with "a megaphone" after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dropped Kyiv's demand to join the NATO alliance, though Moscow also said the issue is a cornerstone of the peace negotiations.
"Naturally, this question is one of the cornerstones, and it requires special discussion against the backdrop of the others," Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Monday at a press briefing.
"That is precisely what the negotiation process consists of—a process which, I would like to emphasize once again, we do not want to conduct in a megaphone format," Peskov said, originally in Russian, according to the state news agency TASS.
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NATO 'Root Cause' of Ukraine War, Says Kremlin
The Kremlin has described Ukraine's push to join NATO as one of the "root causes" of the conflict. Russia sees an expanding NATO as a major security threat.
But NATO's expansion into the Baltics and other post-Soviet states is driven by a fear that Moscow would one day invade and try to fold them back under its control—as seen in Ukraine.
Zelensky is searching for compromises that could secure a peace deal to end Russia's ongoing invasion.
U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out Ukrainian membership in the Western defensive alliance, meaning that walking away from joining is a relatively simple compromise for Kyiv compared to thornier issues, such as territorial concessions.
But while Zelensky is dropping the pursuit of NATO membership, he is still seeking strong security guarantees like Article 5 that would deter future Russian aggression.
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Ukraine Needs 'Real Troops' for Security Guarantees
One proposal under discussion is the deployment of Western peacekeeping troops to Ukraine once the war stops.
But the Kremlin opposes the idea and said Western troops in Ukraine would be legitimate targets.
The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on Monday that if NATO membership is now out of the question for Ukraine, then Kyiv needs "security guarantees that are tangible."
"They cannot be papers or promises. They have to be real troops, real capabilities, so that Ukraine is able to defend itself," Kallas said.
Zelensky Joins Berlin Talks With U.S.
Peace talks between Ukrainian and American officials are continuing in Berlin on Monday, and Zelensky will join them, a sign that they are making substantial progress.
The Kremlin said it is awaiting the outcome of those discussions. It also rejected the idea of deadlines for a peace agreement amid reports that Trump is hoping for a deal by Christmas.
"I am not prepared to speak about any timelines," Peskov said, TASS reported. "I think that doing so right now would be the most thankless task."
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