MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, China, the UK, the US, France) may be the basis of guarantor states for Ukraine, with the issue being discussed at the Russian-Ukrainian talks, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's second CIS department Alexey Polishchuk said in an interview with TASS.

"Indeed, apart from the neutral, non-bloc and denuclearized status of Ukraine, which stipulates its demilitarization and denazification, the issues of providing it with security guarantees from a number of states are being considered at those talks," the diplomat said, adding that "it is suggested that the basis of the institute of guarantor states may consist of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council." "Other options are also under consideration, which is why the final list has not been defined yet," he noted.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics, he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories, and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country.