An unusual proposal from the Russian president Russian President Vladimir Putinon Ukraine, at the gates Peace summit Which will be held this weekend in Switzerland, to which he was not invited.
As it comes in The third year of the invasionwhich began 28 months ago on February 24, 2022, and when Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Putin appeared before the cameras of the Russian Foreign Ministry to present a very simple plan: confirm it We will stop the offensive and withdraw the forces as soon as Ukraine cedes four regions From the east and south and adhere to it Not joining NATO.
Specifically, the Russian President requested Ukraine’s withdrawal from… Donetsk and LuhanskThe two regions that make up the Donbass region, as well as from Kherson and Zaporizhia.
The choice cannot be a surprise to anyone, because they are the four regions that Putin has officially considered Russian territory since September 2022, when he officially announced their annexation in a solemn ceremony in the Kremlin after holding referendums that Ukraine described as a farce.
The annexation is considered illegal by the majority of member states United nations.
they Four regions that Russia does not fully control, but; For this reason, he pointed out that it refers to “all the lands of these regions, within the administrative borders that existed at the time of their entry into Ukraine.”
Putin still sets a second condition for starting dialogue with Kiev: that Ukraine abandons joining NATO and becomes a non-aligned state.
He added: “When Kiev announces that it has begun withdrawing its forces from these areas and officially announces that it is abandoning joining NATO, we will immediately issue a ceasefire order and begin negotiations.”
The Russian President defended this “Another real and concrete peace proposal”“It is not a temporary ceasefire, but an end to the conflict,” and called for “turning a tragic page in history.”
Kyiv talks about “the Levant”
From Ukraine Office of the President Volodymyr Zelensky He has already rejected the proposal, which he described as “farcical.”
Migilo PodolyakThis is what the president’s advisor said Putin limited himself to presenting the “package [de condicions] The aggressor standard“, which he considers “extremely offensive to international legitimacy” and which demonstrates the Kremlin’s “inability” to “adequately assess reality.”
“It proposes that Ukraine admit defeat. It suggests that Ukraine illegally hand over its territory to Russia. It suggests that Ukraine give up its geopolitical sovereignty.”
NATO: “A proposal for further aggression”
The Russian President’s proposal was also met with direct rejection by NATO.
Jens StoltenbergThe Secretary-General of the Organization believes that it is not a peace initiative; “A proposal for more aggression and more occupation”He said during a press conference following the meeting of defense ministers of NATO member states.
EU says Putin only wants to ‘escalate’
With the participation of nearly a hundred countries and international organizations, the Swiss Peace Summit is not a peace conference from which a peace plan should emerge, but rather a peace conference. High-level meeting He focused on issues such as food security and nuclear security in Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion.
He added, “Putin has made it clear through his actions that he is interested in escalating” the conflict. Peter StanoSpokesperson for the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs Joseph BurrellThis was during the European Commission’s daily press conference when he was asked about the Union’s position on Russia’s absence from Switzerland.
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