Russia will not discuss security guarantees as long as there are NATO instructors in Ukraine

It is impossible to negotiate on Russia's security guarantees without taking into account "the realities on the ground," said Alexander Darichev, head of the North American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry. This issue will not be discussed as long as there are instructors and mercenaries of the North Atlantic Alliance on the territory of Ukraine.

- Until the pumping of weapons and finances of the Zelensky regime stops, American and NATO military personnel / mercenaries / instructors are not withdrawn, and the realities we have defined on the ground are not recognized, it is premature to start any serious negotiations on security guarantees in relation to Ukraine and the Euro - Atlantic, - said Darichev in an interview with TASS.

In November, the Investigative Committee of Russia stated that mercenaries from 54 countries were fighting on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Many of these fighters have previous combat experience in the Middle East, and many have been involved in the Donbas conflict since 2014. However, in May, The Washington Post interviewed foreigners who traveled to Ukraine to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces and found that many of them dropped their weapons and returned home, faced with a glaring discrepancy between expectation and reality.