Russia and Ukraine are ‘on the brink’ of agreement to end war, says deputy foreign minister

MOSCOW and LONDON — Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told ABC News during an exclusive interview Monday that he believes the warring parties are “on the brink” of a diplomatic solution to end Moscow’s war.

“We are ready to reach an agreement,” Ryabkov said of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government. The vice-chancellor added that he hoped an agreement would be reached “sooner rather than later”.

U.S. administration officials signaled Monday that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could be closer than ever, telling reporters on condition of anonymity that “literally 90%” of the issues between the two warring countries had been resolved.

But Ryabkov also reiterated Moscow’s long-standing demands that kyiv says it cannot accept as part of any peace deal. Among them is Russian control of Crimea, which was occupied in 2014, and four other partially occupied territories (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson) in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out territorial concessions to Russia.

“We have five in total and we cannot, in any way, reach an agreement on this,” Ryabkov said of Russian control of the territories.

Ryabkov spoke to ABC News as Moscow and kyiv work with U.S. representatives on the White House’s latest peace push, aimed at ensuring an end to Russia’s large-scale invasion of its neighbor that began in February 2022.

Another sticking point for Moscow has been the possible deployment of troops from NATO countries to Ukraine after the war.

He said Russia would not agree to a deal that included their presence on Ukrainian soil, even if they were there as part of a security guarantee or as members of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing,” as a group of mostly European leaders refer to themselves.

“Definitely at no time will we subscribe to, accept or even be content with any presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian territory,” Ryabkov said.

Ryabkov, a high-profile figure within Russia’s Foreign Ministry who regularly speaks to international media, has served as deputy foreign minister in Moscow since 2008, working under Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has been in his position since 2004.

Ryabkov was among Russian officials who downplayed the threat to Ukraine in the run-up to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. As Russian troops massed along Ukraine’s borders in January 2022, Ryabkov said Moscow had “no intention to attack, organize an offensive or invade Ukraine.”

Speaking to ABC News on Monday, the deputy foreign minister refused to refer to the current invasion of Russia as a war, instead using the Kremlin’s preferred phrase of “special military operation.”

“We do what we do, we want to stop it, and whether it is stopped depends largely on how the people who support the authorities in kyiv recognize the inevitable result of our success,” Ryabkov said.

Russian officials have framed their invasion as a necessary measure to protect ethnic Russians living in Ukraine. When asked about the suffering and deaths of members of that community as a result of the Moscow war, Ryabkov said he felt sympathy for those affected.

“The purpose of what we’re doing there is to ensure that at least some of those people, most of them, find it better and find it, I would say, more appropriate to be where they belong, which is Russia.”

Ryabkov has regularly commented on various aspects of US-Russian relations during the ongoing war. For example, he has repeatedly called for greater attention to bilateral arms control and nuclear weapons treaties.

However, Ryabkov said this month that progress on that and other issues “will only be possible for us after we are convinced of substantial and irreversible improvements in Washington’s policy toward Russia.”

Ryabkov told the state magazine International Affairs last month that a new meeting between Trump and Putin was possible as peace talks in Ukraine continued. “I wouldn’t rule anything out,” he said.

ABC News’ Mariam Khan and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.