The conditions under which Putin wants to end the war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced several conditions to end the war in Ukraine. These are: Kiev must agree to cede more territory, move its troops further into the country and abandon its desire to join NATO, the Western military alliance.

At a meeting of Russian ambassadors in Moscow on Friday (June 14), Putin called for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from four Russian-held regions of Ukraine — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. In addition, he also claimed that Ukraine should give up its efforts to officially join the NATO military alliance.

Putin mentioned these terms at a conference in Switzerland this week on Western-led Ukraine peace efforts. Representatives and organizations of 90 countries of the world participated in the conference in Switzerland. Russia was not invited to that conference.

Putin presented the updated terms to ambassadors at the Russian Foreign Ministry. This is the first time Putin has spoken directly about his terms since launching a full-scale operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

Regarding this condition, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, Putin is not in a position to make any demands on Ukraine or to end the war he started today.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Putin's proposal was not to be trusted. He would not stop attacking even if he agreed to a truce on his terms.

Putin said, “Whenever Kiev accepts this decision, we will give an order to stop fighting and start peace talks.” To say it will be done in the same minute.

According to Putin's demands, Ukrainian troops must leave the entire Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russia will accept the matter as final only if they are declared Russian territory according to international agreements.

Putin also said that as a condition of the ceasefire, Western countries should lift all sanctions against Russia.

This week, the United States extended the scope of sanctions on Russia's banking sector. Apart from this, Russian stock exchange, chip and technology sectors have also been banned.

This week, the G7, a group of Western rich nations, agreed to provide loans to Ukraine from assets seized by Russia. This initiative has been commented as theft by Putin.

Sources: BBC, The Guardian.

Bangladesh /MP