Putin claims that if Ukraine withdraws its soldiers from four areas, Russia will stop firing

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that if Ukraine gave up its hopes of joining NATO and removed its troops from four areas of the country that Moscow claimed, Russia would put an end to hostilities and start peace negotiations.

Putin unveiled a set of demands that completely conflict with those that Ukraine is demanding on the eve of a peace conference in Switzerland to which Russia has not been invited.

According to Putin, “the conditions are very simple,” and they include the complete evacuation of Ukrainian forces from all areas of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“As soon as they declare in Kyiv that they are ready for such a decision and begin a real withdrawal of troops from these regions, and also officially announce the abandonment of their plans to join NATO – on our side, immediately, literally at the same minute, an order will follow to cease fire and begin negotiations,” he stated.

I’ll say it again: we’ll get started right away. Naturally, we will also ensure the safe and unfettered evacuation of Ukrainian formations and units at the same time.”

In the third year of the conflict, approximately a fifth of Ukrainian land is under Russian control. According to Ukraine, peace can only come about when Russian soldiers completely leave the country and its territorial integrity is restored.

More than 90 countries and organizations will be represented at the weekend summit in Switzerland, which is anticipated to steer clear of territorial disputes and instead concentrate on concerns including food security and nuclear safety in Ukraine.