Vladimir Putin has promised a ceasefire with Ukraine if Zelensky agrees to two conditions.
The Russian despot has said that it will honour a ceasefire agreement if Kyiv withdraws troops from occupied regions and renounces plans to join NATO.
The Russian media outlet RIA quotes Putin as saying negotiations could begin “as early as tomorrow”.
The proposed deal would include areas the Kremlin has never controlled during the two year-long conflict, or from which it has withdrawn during the course of the fighting.
Putin made the comments during a speech on Friday, in which he offered the most specific conditions he has set for an end to the war.
But the 71-year-old autocrat made it clear he would not be looking to compromise on Russia‘s terms.
The proposed deal would effectively give Moscow control of four Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
There is little prospect of Kyiv countenancing such an agreement. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky told CNN in April 2022 that Ukraine is not willing to give up territory in the besieged eastern part of the country to end the war.
He told the outlet that if control of the Donbas was ceded to Russia, there was no guaruntee that he would respect international agreements and could use it as a platform for attacks on Ukraine‘s capital.
This weekend, Switzerland will host scores of world leaders to try to map out first steps toward peace in Ukraine – though Russia will not be attending.
Zelenskyy’s government didn’t want Russia involved, and the Swiss — aware of Moscow’s reservations about the talks — didn’t invite Russian officials.
Switzerland insists Russia must be involved at some point, and hope it will join the process one day. Ukrainians, too, are considering that possibility.
The conference, underpinned by elements of a 10-point peace formula presented by Zelenskyy in late 2022, is unlikely to produce major results and is seen as a largely symbolic effort on the part of Kyiv to rally the international community and project strength against its better armed and numbered adversary.
But the question looming over the summit will be how the two countries can move back from the brink and eventually silence the guns in a war that has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and caused hundreds and thousands of deaths and injuries, without Moscow attending.
The conflict has also led to international sanctions against nuclear-armed Russia and has raised tensions between NATO and Moscow.
Putin’s comments on Friday come as Russian forces have been making modest territorial gains in eastern and northeastern Ukraine, extending the grip they already hold on about a quarter of the country.