If Russian President Vladimir Putin has his way, there will only be a ceasefire and peace talks if Ukraine withdraws troops, renounces NATO membership and hands over occupied territory to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from four regions and Ukraine’s renunciation of NATO membership a condition for a ceasefire and peace talks. As soon as Kiev begins to withdraw from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions and officially abandons its plans to join NATO, “we will immediately, literally at the same minute, cease fire and begin talks,” Putin told Russian Foreign Ministry executives on Friday.
Vladimir Putin demands handover of Ukrainian territory
Putin demanded that Ukraine hand over these territories, which the Russian military partially occupies, to Russia in their entirety. Moscow declared the regions in the east and south of Ukraine annexed in September 2022. For Kyiv, these conditions represent a de facto demand for surrender.
The Russian president described the upcoming peace summit for Ukraine in Switzerland this weekend as a “diversionary tactic” designed to distract attention from those truly responsible for the conflict. Without Russia’s participation in the talks, it would be “impossible to reach a peaceful solution in Ukraine and for the security of Europe in general,” Putin said.
Source: Stern
