Putin states the condition for ending the war in Ukraine

Tengrinews.kz – Russia will cease hostilities only after the Ukrainian army withdraws from the “occupied territories,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. He commented on the progress of negotiations regarding the U.S. “peace plan” to end the war during a press conference in Bishkek. This was reported by Western and Russian media.

According to Putin, what is currently being discussed is not a draft agreement but a “set of questions,” and Russia is ready to sign a peace agreement based on the understandings reached between the presidents of the United States and Ukraine.

Answering questions from journalists, Putin said that Russia and the U.S. had discussed these issues even before the summit in Anchorage.

“After that, a list of possible agreements consisting of 28 points emerged,” he said.

After this, according to Putin, the U.S. and Ukraine held talks in Geneva.

“They, as I understand it, decided among themselves that all these 28 points should be divided into four separate components. And all of this was handed over to us,” Putin stated.

Western media reported that as a result of the Geneva negotiations, the content of the plan was adjusted.

Putin allowed that the provisions of the document transmitted by the U.S. could be “used as a basis for future agreements,” but he clarified that “it would be impolite to speak now about any final versions, since they do not exist.”

The Russian president added that the document needs to be “translated into diplomatic language,” because some of its provisions currently “sound ridiculous.”

“Because it’s one thing to say generally that Russia does not intend to attack Europe. For us, that sounds ridiculous, right? We never intended to. But if they want to hear it from us, let’s put it down in writing, no problem,” he said.

It should be recalled that the initial version of the document, published by several media outlets, envisioned significant territorial concessions from Kyiv and the cessation of hostilities after the agreement was signed by all parties.

“The Ukrainian troops will leave the territories they occupy — then the hostilities will end. If they don’t leave, we will achieve this by military means. That’s it,” Putin said at the press conference in Bishkek.

According to Putin, “one of the key points” in Russia’s negotiations with the U.S. in Moscow next week will be the legal recognition of Russian sovereignty over the annexed Crimea and Donbas.

The Russian president stressed that it is important for him that the final decisions on resolving the conflict in Ukraine be recognized by “major international players.” He explained this by claiming that, in his view, the Ukrainian authorities are illegitimate.