April 17, 2024 (EIRNS)—Dmitry Suslov, head of the Center for European and International Studies at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, introduced as “one of the Kremlin’s most listened-to foreign policy advisers,” gave an interview to Italy’s Corriere della Sera correspondent Paolo Valentino, whom he told: “Russia is not fighting this war for territories but for guarantees and armored security arrangements. Ukraine must be absolutely neutral.” Although Suslov makes it clear that Russia does not seek territorial gains, the title of the interview is typically misleading: “Territories Are Not Enough for Us—Ukraine Must Be Neutral.”
To the question of whether photographing the situation on the ground is good for Russia, Suslov answered: “No, absolutely not. You see, Russia is not fighting this war for territories but for guarantees and armored security arrangements. The minimum acceptable for an armistice would be a return to the Istanbul Communiqué of April 2022, with the added recognition of Russian control over the conquered territories. That document established a neutral status for Ukraine, then an end to any talk of NATO membership and tight limits on the size of its armed forces.
