Vladimir Putin declared on Friday that he will negotiate with Ukraine in the event of withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the four regions he claims and when kyiv gives up joining NATO. Comments made the day before the peace summit organized in Switzerland and to which Moscow was not invited.
“As soon as kyiv begins the effective withdrawal of troops (from the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia), and it notifies the abandonment of its plan to join NATO, we will immediately, this very minute , the order to cease fire and begin negotiations,” Mr. Putin said to executives of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
These demands constitute a de facto demand for surrender from Ukraine, the objective of which is to maintain its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Vladimir Putin proclaimed in September 2022 the annexation of the four regions of eastern and southern Ukraine, in addition to that of Crimea in 2014. He specified that Ukraine must hand over all these territories to Russia , even though Moscow only partially occupies them.
He also denigrated the peace summit, from which Russia was excluded, planned in Switzerland for June 15 and 16 at the initiative of Ukraine, seeing it as a “stratagem to divert everyone’s attention” from the who are, according to him, the Westerners and the Kiev authorities.
“In this regard, I want to emphasize that without the participation of Russia and without an honest and responsible dialogue with us, it is impossible to achieve a peaceful solution in Ukraine and the security of Europe in general,” insisted the Russian president.
