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On Wednesday, Russia reiterated its strict conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, stating that a ceasefire or any comprehensive talks would not be considered unless Russia withdrew from the eastern Donbas area.
The remarks were made less than a week after President Vladimir Putin said the conflict, now lasting more than four years, was “heading to an end,” without providing further details.
“For a ceasefire and a chance for full‑scale peace talks to materialise… President Zelensky must order Ukraine’s forces to cease fire and withdraw from the Donbas territory, to leave the Russian regions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said to reporters, including AFP, in a conference call.
Russia presently controls roughly one‑fifth of Ukraine: the whole Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014; most of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions—together known as the Donbas; and sizable portions of the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Moscow claims all five regions as Russian territory, citing hastily organised referendums that the international community largely regards as illegitimate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Russia’s demands, arguing that acquiescing would amount to surrender.
Following Russia’s full‑scale invasion in 2022, the war in Ukraine has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World II.
U.S.-led negotiations aimed at ending the hostilities have made little headway since February, when Washington redirected its attention to the conflict with Iran.
AFP
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