Neutral Ukraine is an existential necessity for Russia, expert says

SIMFEROPOL, October 2. /TASS/. A non-neutral Ukraine, whatever the form, would pose a constant threat to modern Russia, Alexander Irkhin, a professor at the V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, told TASS in an interview.

Speaking during the plenary session of the 23rd meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Ukraine’s neutral status remains one of Russia’s goals. The head of state noted that from the very beginning of the formation of the post-Soviet space and the new Russia, Moscow proceeded on the assumption that Ukraine would be a neutral state.

"At present, any status for Ukraine other than neutrality poses an existential threat to modern Russia. Moreover, Kiev must be not only neutral but also friendly toward Moscow. However, the second component has not yet been raised, as it is no longer of a legal nature," Irkhin noted.

The expert recalled that Ukraine’s neutral status was a prerequisite for the "civilizational divorce" during the dissolution of the USSR. Western elites from that same period agreed with this. "However, after just a few years, this condition began to gradually erode and be re-evaluated. The main reason was the power vacuum that the weak Russian Federation of the 1990s was unable to fill," Irkhin added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has traditionally met with Valdai participants since the club’s founding in 2004. The first conference took place in Veliky Novgorod in the Novgorod Region in western Russia, near Lake Valdai, from which the event takes its name. Since 2014, the club’s meetings have been held in Sochi. In 2026, the Valdai meeting moved to the Moscow Region due to the large number of participants, who find it more convenient to travel to Moscow.