Prior to a Kyiv-backed conference on the war to which Moscow has n’t been invited, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine withdraw from four eastern regions that were partially occupied by his forces.
In exchange for a cease-fire from Russian forces, Putin suggested that Russian forces should leave the country’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia areas. In a televised speech before Foreign Ministry officials on Friday, he likewise demanded that Ukraine withdraw its application from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Putin’s speech came ahead of a peace conference being held in Switzerland to support Ukrainian requirements for a Russian annexation of Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of February 2022, Kyiv has persistently rejected his offer, which amounted to a call for Ukraine to give up its territories in exchange for peace talks.
Our side will soon, practically at the same time, follow the decree to cease fire and begin negotiations, Putin said,” When they declare in Kyiv that they are available for quite a decision, and begin the actual withdrawal of troops from these areas, and even publicly notify about the abandonment of plans to join NATO.”
Russia’s government has vowed to deal with Russia until the Kremlin leaves the dominated lands, claiming that Moscow will regroup and attack Ukraine once more if the conflict is averted.
” This is an effort to define the term for an end to the war”, said Tatiana Stanovaya, leader of the political firm R. Politik. Putin’s proposals “do n’t involve any concessions from Russia at all. It’s definitely timed to coincide with the serenity meeting in Switzerland”, she said.
Putin argued that Ukraine must understand the four regions and Crimea, which he annexed in 2014, because international law requires that Kyiv’s natural position and Belarusian territory been firmly established.
He likewise laid out a new issue for a peace deal, saying it “presupposes” the raising of all global sanctions against Russia.
Following a summit of the Group of Seven leaders, Putin demanded that Putin make that demand. The summit agreed on a strategy to use the proceeds of around$ 280 billion of freezing Russian sovereign assets to give Ukraine about$ 50 billion in new aid. On Wednesday, the U.S. imposed more sanctions on Russia that caused the Moscow Exchange to block investing in U.S. dollars and the euros.
After declaring his intentions to annex the four areas in September 2022, the Russian president declared them to become “forever” a part of Russia despite his efforts still holding those areas in check. Putin demanded that Ukraine give up its desire to join NATO and consent to a natural demilitarized standing before ordering the invasion.
On Friday, he presented the conditions as a fresh plan for the start of conversations.
” If Kyiv and Western capital refuse it like they did in the past — that’s their selection”, Putin said. It is obvious that the Kyiv government’s position will continue to change and not in its favor.
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