Putin announces new terms of peace with Ukraine that look like an ultimatum
14 June 2024 15:49
Russian leader Vladimir Putin today announced new conditions for the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, according to "Komersant Ukrainian" news agency citing Russian media.
The Russian president said that Ukrainian troops should be completely withdrawn from the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions within the administrative borders. In addition, Ukraine should announce its refusal to join NATO.
If these conditions are met, Russia will “immediately” cease fire, Putin said. He stressed that this is not a temporary truce, but the “final end” of the conflict.
“Please note that it is from the entire territory of these regions within their administrative borders, which existed at the time of their accession to Ukraine. As soon as Kyiv declares that it is ready for such a decision and begins the actual withdrawal of troops from these regions, as well as officially announces the abandonment of plans to join NATO, we will immediately, literally at the same minute, order a ceasefire and start negotiations. I repeat, we will do this immediately,”
– putin said.
But he also announced additional conditions for a peaceful settlement. Among them, Putin mentioned Ukraine’s neutral and non-nuclear status, as well as the lifting of sanctions against Russia. According to the Russian leader, Moscow is making “another concrete, realistic peace proposal”.
“If Kyiv and the Western capitals refuse it, it is their business, their political and moral responsibility to continue the bloodshed,” he concluded,
– he concluded.
putin’s “offer” was made on the eve of the Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland on 15-16 June. Russia has not been invited to attend.
Global peace summit
The Peace Summit, to be held on 15-16 June in Switzerland, is designed to speed up the coming of a just peace for Ukraine. Ukraine hopes that 80-100 countries will take part in the event. According to the Swiss Foreign Ministry, more than 160 delegations have been invited to the peace summit.
Among the invitees are members of the G7, G20, BRICS, numerous other countries from all continents, as well as the EU, three international organisations (UN, OSCE and Council of Europe) and two religious representatives (Vatican and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople).
Switzerland emphasises that the summit will build on the discussions that have taken place in recent months, including the Ukrainian peace formula and other peace proposals based on the UN Charter and key principles of international law. The main goal of the summit is to inspire the future peace process. To achieve this, the Summit intends to
- provide a platform for dialogue on how to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine based on international law and the UN Charter;
- promote a common understanding of a possible framework for achieving this goal;
- jointly define a roadmap on how to engage both sides in the future peace process.
What does the Ukrainian “peace formula” envisage?
Ukraine has its own “Formula for Peace”, which President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced to the G7 leaders on 11 October 2022. It includes 10 points:
- Radiation and nuclear safety.
- Food security.
- Energy security.
- Release of all prisoners and deportees.
- Implementation of the UN Charter, restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and world order.
- Withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and cessation of hostilities.
- Return of justice.
- Countering ecocide.
- Preventing escalation.
- Fixing the end of the war.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution with the Ukrainian peace formula in 2023, on the eve of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Seven states voted against it: Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Eritrea, Mali, and Nicaragua. The abstentions included China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and Armenia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia would not negotiate on the basis of Zelenskyy’s “peace formula”.
