His remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a new proposal on Friday for the start of peace negotiations in the conflict, which Moscow started with its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Just a day ahead of the peace conference, to which Russia was not invited, Putin articulated Russia’s demands for peace: Ukraine must give up the entire four regions that Russia occupies part of, demilitarize, and drop its aspirations to join the NATO defense alliance.
“As soon as Kyiv agrees to fully withdraw from Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia and starts this process, we are ready to start negotiations,” Putin said on Friday.
Putin also demanded that the West lift all sanctions against Russia, and that Moscow’s claims to the territories of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson be recognized internationally.
“If Kyiv and West refuse, they will take full responsibility for further bloodshed,” Putin said.
But Ukraine rejected his proposal. At the summit, Kyiv plans to talk with representatives of 92 countries and eight international organizations to work on a joint plan on how to bring Ukraine’s 10-step peace formula to life, Yermak said.
