Vladimir Putin announced on June 14 the two major conditions he wants Ukraine to accept in order to halt the fighting in the war-torn country and negotiate a peace deal.
Speaking at his country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Russian President said Kyiv needs to renounce its intention to join NATO if it wants the war to end now.
Moreover, he demanded the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entirety of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions – even from areas that were either never invaded by Russia or were liberated by Kyiv.
Putin also added lifting sanctions against Russia and Ukraine maintaining its non-nuclear status as additional conditions for a ceasefire.
Ukraine has long said it would not accept a peace deal involving ceding its internationally-recognised territory to Russia.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slapped down Putin’s proposal a few hours after the Russian leader’s speech.
Likening it to the demands made by Adolf Hitler before the onset of World War 2, Mr Zelensky, who this weekend is attending a peace summit in Switzerland with dozens of other world leaders, told Italy’s Sky TG24: “These messages are ultimatum messages. It’s the same thing Hitler did, when he said ‘give me a part of Czechoslovakia and it’ll end here’.”
The Ukrainian leader, who is hoping to see a path to peace being drawn during the summit, was seemingly supported in his decision by NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who said Putin’s proposal was “not made in good faith”.
Before leaving for the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a similar comment, saying Putin’s plan “wasn’t meant seriously”.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also dismissed the ceasefire plan coming from Moscow, as he said: “Putin has illegally occupied sovereign Ukrainian territory. He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about a peace.”
As the war continues to rage in Ukraine, with Moscow’s push against Kharkiv bogging down and Kyiv successfully damaging sensitive Russian targets with drone attacks, Express.co.uk is asking its readers what they think of Putin’s proposal. Do you think Ukraine should consider Vladimir Putin‘s ceasefire conditions?