Russia Proposes Conditions for a True End to the Ukrainian War
Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2024. Photo: X/ @citynewscalgary
June 14, 2024 Hour: 10:37 am
‘Every time the West has rejected our proposals, it has brought nothing good,’ said Russian FM Lavrov.
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would be willing to implement an immediate ceasefire and start negotiations if Ukraine withdraws its troops from the Donbas and renounces its aim to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
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“Russia is proposing an option that would truly put an end to the war in Ukraine. In other words, we are calling for a tragic chapter in history to be turned,” Putin said in an extraordinary address to the top officials of Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
Nevertless, the Russian president warned that this new peace proposal has an expiration date and is not seeking a “temporary truce” or the “freezing of the conflict.”
“Ukrainian troops must completely withdraw from the entire territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, and from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Then negotiations will be possible,” he said.
“As soon as Kyiv announces that it is willing to make this decision and initiates a real withdrawal of troops and officially communicates its renunciation of plans to join NATO, we will immediately, at that very minute, issue the order to cease fire and begin negotiations,” the Russian leader stressed, adding that his country would ensure a safe and unobstructed withdrawal of Ukrainian military units.
“Without a doubt, the rights, freedoms, and interests of Russian-speaking citizens in Ukraine must be fully guaranteed; the new territorial reality must be recognized; the status of Crimea and Sevastopol, and the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as entities belonging to the Russian Federation, must be acknowledged,” Putin said.
“We are ready to sit at the negotiation table as soon as tomorrow. But, at the same time, we understand the peculiarity of the legal situation,” said Putin, who accused Volodymyr Zelensky of currently being an usurper since his mandate expired on May 20, and his legitimacy cannot be restored “by any trick.”
The Russian president also emphasized the need for the United States and its allies to lift all sanctions against Russia, warning that “if Kyiv and Western capitals refuse this, as in the past, they will ultimately be politically and morally responsible for the continuation of bloodshed.”
Putin presented his proposal on the eve of the peace summit to be held on Saturday and Sunday in Switzerland, which neither Russia nor China will attend. “We can already predict that everything will boil down to vague demagogic conversations and a new round of accusations against Russia,” he said.
Regarding the security agreements signed by Zelensky with the US and other Western countries, he called them a “bluff” and “legally insignificant.”
“Every time the West has rejected our proposals, it has brought nothing good (…) The West must understand the real situation,” said Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister.
Sources: EFE – RT
teleSUR/JF
