Russian President, Vladimir Putin has promised a ceasefire in Ukraine, provided that several conditions are met by Kyiv.
During a wide-ranging speech to foreign ministry officials, Putin disclosed that Russia would cease fire and enter peace talks if Ukraine dropped its NATO ambitions and withdrew its forces from four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow.
These series of conditions, set on the eve of a peace conference in Switzerland to which Russia has not been invited, are wholly at odds with the terms demanded by Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said that he will continue to fight until all disputed regions of Ukraine have been liberated.
Ukraine has also repeatedly lobbied to join NATO since before the escalation of the conflict.
The Russian President’s demands represent the most specific conditions he has set for a possible end to the war since he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In order for the ceasefire to go through, Kyiv would need to withdraw troops from the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, effectively giving Moscow control.
Putin claimed to have annexed the regions despite only partly occupying them in the fall of 2022.
Putin also demanded for Ukraine to pledge to no longer seek NATO membership, a goal currently enshrined in the Ukrainian constitution and confirmed by the US-led military alliance though without a concrete timeline.
He called for Kyiv to never develop nuclear weapons and to pursue its “demilitarisation” and “denazification,” two vague goals Russia set out at the start of the invasion.
“As soon as Kyiv says they’re ready for such a decision and start the real withdrawal of forces from these regions and officially declare rejection of plans to join NATO, from our side, immediately, literally the same minute, will come an order to stop the fire and start negotiations.
“We will do it immediately. Obviously, we will guarantee the uninterrupted and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian forces.”
Vladimir Putin
Putin said in the speech to foreign policy officials, “All these basic principal conditions must be set through fundamental international agreements.
“Naturally, this involves the cancellation of all western sanctions against Russia,” he stressed.
Furthermore, Putin aclaimed that there was never an intention of Russian forces attacking Kiev directly, and that the original motive for the advance in 2022 was to force Ukraine to agree to a peace deal.
Putin asserted that Russia would like such decisions — regarding the withdrawal of troops, non-aligned status, and starting a dialogue with Russia, on which the future existence of Ukraine depends — to be made independently in Kyiv, guided by the genuine national interests of the Ukrainian people.
“Not at the behest of the West. Although there are significant doubts about this,” he stated.
“Today we are making another specific, real peace offering. If Kyiv and western capitals refuse it as they did before, then that’s their issue at the end of the day — their political and moral responsibility for the continued bloodshed.
“Obviously, the facts on the ground at the front will continue to change, not in the Kyiv regime’s favour, and the conditions to begin negotiations will be different.”
Vladimir Putin
Putin’s Conditions; A Demonstration Of Unwillingness To Negotiate
Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, told a news agency that Putin’s remarks were a “demonstration that he doesn’t want to negotiate” and that the Russian leader’s terms were unacceptable to Kyiv.
Lytvynenko said that Putin was speaking out now in an attempt to undermine Ukraine’s first global peace summit due to start on Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Switzerland.
Leaders and representatives from more than 90 countries are expected to gather at the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to appeal to nations that have been indifferent to his nation’s plight.
“Our position is very clear: the peace formula,” Lytvynenko said, referring to Zelenskyy’s 10-point plan to bring the war to an end.
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