Russian President Vladimir Putin has outlined conditions to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking at the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday, June 14, Putin announced that he would call a ceasefire and enter peace talks if Ukraine withdraws its troops from four regions occupied by Russian forces and abandons plans to join NATO.
“We will call a ceasefire immediately,” Putin said during his speech, emphasizing that his proposal aims for a “final resolution” of the conflict and that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay.”
This announcement comes on the eve of a two-day conference in Switzerland focused on creating a “road map” to peace in Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has refused to consider any deal involving the surrender of Ukrainian territory to Moscow.
Currently, Putin’s forces control significant portions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and in September 2022, Moscow unilaterally declared it had annexed these two regions along with parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Russian forces are also making gains in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
In the same speech, Putin claimed that Western leaders are pushing him towards “the point of no return” over a potential nuclear World War Three.
“We have come unacceptably close to the point of no return… Calls to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, demonstrate the extreme recklessness of Western politicians,” Putin declared.
“They either do not understand the scale of the threat they are creating or are simply obsessed with their own sense of impunity and exceptionalism. Both can lead to tragedy,” he concluded sternly.
Putin’s remarks coincided with a G7 leaders’ meeting in Italy and Switzerland’s preparations to host a peace conference in Lucerne.
The Kremlin chief stressed that he did not want to “freeze” the conflict but instead sought a final resolution to end hostilities.
Broader demands for peace listed by the Russian leader included Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, restrictions on its military forces, and protections for the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine.
“We urge turning this tragic page of history and beginning to restore unity between Russia and Ukraine, and in Europe in general,” he said, clearly laying out his conditions to end the war.
