End of war in Ukraine: Kremlin issues new demand

Russia continues its «special military operation» while simultaneously maintaining its interest in continuing the negotiation process.

This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during a briefing.

«We are ready to resolve the situation through political and diplomatic means. But since we do not see reciprocal steps from Kyiv, we continue the „special military operation, ” he said.

In addition, Peskov noted that Ukraine continues to strike Russian infrastructure facilities, most often targeting what he called civilian infrastructure.

As a reminder, the conditions earlier voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin included «the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the territories of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions, ” as well as „Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO and the declaration of a neutral, non-aligned, and non-nuclear status.“

Putin also named as conditions of a possible peace agreement «international recognition of the occupation of Crimea and the territories of the four Ukrainian regions.» He added that as part of a settlement process, Western countries must lift all sanctions imposed against Moscow.

Both Ukrainian authorities and Western politicians, as well as experts and analysts, responded to this. The Institute for the Study of War, analyzing Putin’s statements, noted that the Kremlin is not interested in good-faith negotiations with Ukraine and only pretends to be in order to convince the West to make premature concessions that undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that «all the ultimatums voiced by Putin have been repeated many times by Moscow and are aimed at misleading the international community.»