Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, threatened to \”immediately\” declare an end to hostilities in Ukraine unless Kyiv began to remove its soldiers from four areas that Moscow had unilaterally taken over in 2022 and gave up on its ambitions to join NATO.
Putin stated that his plan would bring a “final resolution” to the issue rather than “freezing it” and emphasized that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay” during a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow on Friday.
We will do it immediately,” the Russian leader said, adding that the proposal would restore \”unity\” between the two warring nations and Europe more broadly. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.
Ukraine wants to join the 32-member military alliance and has demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from all territories.
Putin made these comments as the G7 summit in Italy concluded with an agreement to lend Ukraine €46 billion. Additionally, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, and Joe Biden, the president of the United States, inked a 10-year security accord.
This weekend, Switzerland will welcome foreign leaders as well, albeit not from Moscow, in an effort to chart the course for peace in Ukraine.
The conference intends to unite the international community and project strength against Russia. It is based on parts of a 10-point peace formula that Zelenskyy offered in late 2022.
Territorial withdrawal
In February 2022, Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The majority of the fighting has been in the border areas in the east and south of the nation after Ukrainian forces stopped a Russian attempt to take the capital.
Though Putin requested Kyiv pull out of the four illegally acquired areas in 2022, effectively ceding them to Moscow within their administrative borders, none of the regions are totally under Russian sovereignty.
The namesake administrative capital of southeast Russia is still uncontrolled. This is Zaporizhzhia. In November 2022, Moscow withdrew from its capital and largest city, which bears the same name, in the neighboring Kherson province.
