Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Friday, outlined Russia’s conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
He stated that Russia wants Ukraine to completely withdraw its troops from the country’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as to formally renounce its intention to join NATO. If these conditions are met, Putin claims, Russia will “immediately” cease fire:
I want to emphasize, it must be from the entire territory of these regions within their administrative borders as they existed at the time of their incorporation into Ukraine. As soon as Kyiv announces that it is ready for such a resolution and begins the actual withdrawal of troops from these regions, as well as makes an official notification that it has renounced plans to join NATO, our side will immediately issue an order to cease fire and begin negotiations, literally at that very moment. I repeat, we will do this immediately.
According to him, Russia’s proposal is “not about a temporary truce” or freezing the conflict, but about its “final resolution.” Putin also named Ukraine adopting a neutral and non-nuclear status and the lifting of sanctions against Russia as additional conditions for a “peaceful resolution.”
“We 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,” stated Putin.
He added Moscow was making “another concrete, real peace proposal.” “If Kyiv and Western capitals reject it, that is their choice, their political and moral responsibility for the continuation of bloodshed,” he concluded.
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