ENTRE News – President Vladimir Putin indicated that Russia is ready to end its invasion of Ukraine which has been going on since February 2022, but with conditions. Putin said Ukraine must be willing to withdraw all its troops in the four regions occupied by Moscow if there is to be a ceasefire.
“Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Kherson region and Zaporizhzhia,” Putin said during a speech at a peace summit in Switzerland.
Russia has controlled these four regions since 2014. Then the escalation increased in 2022 when it launched a special military operation. Putin said Moscow would be open to peace talks if Ukraine gave up four of its territories.
Apart from that, Putin also urged Ukraine to abandon its intention to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Putin also encouraged Kiev FOR4D to immediately release the four regions if it wanted to start peace negotiations.
“As soon as Kyiv says it is ready to do this and starts withdrawing its troops and officially abandons plans to join NATO, we will immediately — at that very moment — cease fire and start negotiations,” Putin said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine stated that it would agree to a peace agreement after Russia completely withdrew from the four disputed regions. Ukraine has also made various efforts to end the conflict, which has entered its second year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also intensively visited various international conferences to gain support from various countries in facing the Russian invasion. This peace meeting in Switzerland was initiated by Ukraine and Western countries to reach an agreement to end the ongoing war.