Russian President, Vladimir Putin has said that his demands for Kyiv, formulated back in the summer of 2024, remain unchanged, giving no indication that he is willing to make any concessions to achieve peace in Ukraine.
Speaking to journalists alongside Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said, “We need a lasting and stable peace on solid foundations that would satisfy both Russia and Ukraine, and would ensure the security of both countries.”
His remarks came a week before a new deadline imposed by US President, Donald Trump for hostilities to cease.
Amid repeated expression of disappointment, Trump has said if Russia and Ukraine do not come to an agreement to end the war by next Friday, 8 August, he will impose a package of economic sanctions on Russia.
Seemingly referencing Trump’s comments, Putin stated, “As for any disappointments on the part of anyone, all disappointments arise from inflated expectations,” adding, “This is a well-known general rule.”
He asserted that Russian troops were attacking Ukraine along the entire front line and that the momentum was in their favour, citing the announcement by his Defence Ministry on Thursday that Moscow’s forces had captured the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar after a 16-month battle.
The death toll from a series of Russian strikes on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday rose sharply on Friday, to 31, after rescuers found more than a dozen bodies in the rubble of an apartment block that had collapsed after one of the strikes.
There were five children among the dead, including a two-year-old, while 159 people were wounded in the attack, one of the worst to hit the Ukrainian capital in more than three years of full-scale war.
Additionally, Putin said that he hoped the peace talks would continue, and that they should be conducted “without cameras and in a calm atmosphere.”
Putin has periodically claimed to be interested in peace, but only on terms wholly unacceptable to Kyiv.
Last week, the third round of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul, but broke up in less than an hour and have so far led to no agreements except on prisoner exchanges.
Ukraine says Russia has shown it is not serious about the talks by sending a low-level delegation led by Vladimir Medinsky, a former Culture Minister known for writing patriotic books about history.
Zelenskyy Responds To Putin’s Claim With Another Suggestion To Meet
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he wants to meet Putin one-on-one, with either Trump or the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as moderator.
He responded to Putin’s claim of being interested in peace with another suggestion to meet.
“If this is a signal of serious readiness to end the war with dignity and establish a truly lasting peace, and not just an attempt to buy more time for the war and delay sanctions, then Ukraine once again confirms its readiness to meet at the leaders’ level at any time.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
He explained why a direct meeting is needed to conduct talks.
“We understand who makes the decisions in Russia and who must end this war. The whole world understands this too. Ukraine proposes to move from exchanges of statements and technical-level meetings to talks between leaders.
“The United States has proposed this. Ukraine had supported it. What is needed is Russia’s readiness.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Following Zelenskyy’s comments, his most senior aide Andriy Yermak said that it’s long past time for Russians to move “from empty talks and living in a fantasy world to facing reality.”
He said that a meeting of leaders is possible “– it’s Russia that doesn’t want it.”
“Too many statements about ‘wanting peace’ while missile strikes continue — and not a single real step toward peace from Moscow.”
Andriy Yermak
Yermak added that it’s time for Russia to “stop lying on the bench and start getting specific.”
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