Ukraine rejects Putin’s demands for peace as absurd
Published: Friday, Jun 14th 2024, 16:51
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The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's demands for further territorial cessions as a prerequisite for peace as absurd and manipulative.
"Putin is not striving for peace, he wants to divide the world," the ministry commented on Friday. Putin's statement was made with regard to the peace summit planned for the weekend in Switzerland. The Russian head of state once again wanted to present himself internationally as a peacemaker for the war he himself had triggered. "Russia is not planning peace, but the continuation of the war, the occupation of Ukraine, the annihilation of the Ukrainian people and further aggression in Europe," said the authority.
"Ukraine has never sought this war and wants it to end like no one else in the world," it continued. However, in order to force Russia to turn away, an international coalition of states is needed to achieve a just peace on the basis of the UN Charter and the Ukrainian peace formula. The first peace summit in Switzerland was therefore important to force Russia to abandon ultimatums and move on to sincere negotiations to end the war.
In a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Putin had previously demanded neutrality from Kiev and the complete relinquishment of the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhia and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in return for an end to the hostilities. Russia was unable to conquer Zaporizhia in its war of aggression, which has now lasted over two years, and was forced to withdraw from Kherson in the autumn of 2022.
©Keystone/SDA
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