Ukrainian negotiator: Russia promised peace if Ukraine dropped NATO aspirations

Russia offered to end its invasion of Ukraine in the spring of 2022 if Kyiv had committed to abandoning its NATO aspirations and had adopted a neutral stance, David Arakhamia, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's "Servant of the People” Party, told Ukrainian journalist Natalia Moseichuk on Friday.

"They really hoped almost to the last moment that they would force us to sign such an agreement so that we would take neutrality," said Arakhamia, who also headed the Ukrainian delegation in peace negotiations with Russia in Belarus and Turkey in 2022, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

"It was the most important thing for them. They were prepared to end the war if we agreed to – as Finland once did – neutrality, and committed that we would not join NATO."

Arakhamia added that neutrality was the "key point" and that everything else was "simply rhetoric and political ‘seasoning’ about denazification, the Russian-speaking population, and blah-blah-blah."

When Moseichuk asked the party leader why Ukraine did not agree to the offer, the he stated that Ukraine "had no confidence" in the Russians since they were ready to promise anything for Ukraine to agree.

"There was no confidence in the Russians that they would do it. This could only be done if there were security guarantees," said Arakhamia.

"We could not sign something, step away, everyone would relax there, and then they would [invade] even more prepared – because they have, in fact, gone in unprepared for such a resistance," he said. "Therefore, we could only explore this route when there is absolute certainty that this will not happen again. There is no such certainty."

UK recommended that Ukraine not sign Russian deal

The party head noted that then-UK prime minister Boris Johnson arrived in Ukraine amid talks in Istanbul in April and told Ukrainian officials that they "shouldn't sign anything with them at all – and let's just fight," according to the Kyiv Post.

Arakhamia added as well that the delegation he led did not have the legal right to sign any agreement.

Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that the invasion of Ukraine was launched partially due to the expansion of NATO.

In February 2022, just days before Russia launched its invasion, Ukraine's ambassador to Britain Vadym Prystaiko said that Ukraine could drop its bid to join NATO to avoid war with Russia, according to the BBC.