On February 24, 22, Russian leader Vladimir Putin reported to the world the start of his country’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. That day, a series of bombings were reported in several cities and kyiv accused “large-scale” Russian invasion, starting an armed conflict that is already underway. 841 days.
This Friday, in a meeting with the leaders and senior staff of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Putin raised two demands to end the war.
Their first demand is that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions already annexed by the Kremlin.
The second is that the nation that leads Volodymyr Zelensky back off its intentions to join NATO.
If these requests were accepted, Putin stated that he would cease fire, guaranteeing a safe withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, and begin peace talks.
“As soon as kyiv announces that it is ready for this decision and begins an actual withdrawal of troops from those regions and also officially communicates its renunciation of plans to join NATO, the order to cease fire will be immediately issued from us. and start negotiations,” he stated.
At the same time, Putin warned that “if kyiv and Western capitals give up on this, as in the past, they will ultimately be politically and morally responsible for the continued bloodshed.”
According to local media, Putin made it clear that Russia demands a “neutral, non-bloc and non-nuclear” Ukraine along with the demilitarization and denazification of the country, two of the objectives set when he ordered the start of the military campaign in February 2022.
