Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that peace in Ukraine was possible if Ukrainian forces withdrew from territory in the four oblasts Moscow annexed in 2022.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to freeze the current battle lines for a peace deal, which would mark a significant concession from Moscow.
Peskov’s comments suggest Russia may still be demanding that Ukraine withdraw from the territory it controls in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. He said Russia’s claim to the territories was enshrined in its constitution.
When asked if the Ukrainian withdrawal from those oblasts would end the war, Peskov said, “If Ukraine withdraws its troops from these four regions, then yes.”
“According to the results of the referendums, these territories have entered the administrative borders of Russia. From our point of view, this is a de jure and de facto situation,” Peskov said.
When Russian and Ukrainian officials held peace talks in the early days of Russia’s invasion in 2022, Russia’s main demand was for Ukrainian neutrality. Those efforts were discouraged by the US, and later that year, Russia declared its annexation of four Ukrainian oblasts and added the recognition of that territory as Russia to its demands to end the war.
According to Axios, US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to hold another meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss the war. US, Ukrainian, and European officials were supposed to hold high-level talks in London on Wednesday, but the meeting was downgraded to a lower level after Ukraine rejected a potential peace proposal from the US, which would have involved US recognition of Crimea as Russian.
What other hybrid war and sabotage activities is Russia freezing?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07912lxx33o Mystery fires were Russian 'test runs' to target cargo flights to US
Didn't bother reading past the 2nd para, Putin's been very clear about the 4 oblasts. Seems to me the question is whether he'll get pushed to take Odessa and landlock the rump state
If push comes to shove he might do that…!
“Ukraine’s territorial integrity and European aspirations are very strong requirements for Europeans,” a spokesperson for President Emmanuel Macron told AFP.
Europe is fine with the war ending when Ukraine wins, in other words never. Trump should leave this on the table for when they're ready for peace and not send another shell, bomb, dollar or Intel to Ukraine.
After referendums of the four regions
Nobody wants to quit.
This is Not gonna end good.
Force Russia to continue the war and the Ukraine will lose 8 Oblasts including: Odessa, Mykolaiv, Dneipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv. Mr. Putin has repeatedly said that bargaining will be harder to longer the Ukraine delays.
Until the Russian Empire was dissolved by the Bolshevik takeover of Russia and World War One Russia lands included Eastern Ukraine to just west of the Dnieper River. In fact, Kiev was part of Russia and Odessa.
Ukraine was cobbled together by the French, British, and Americans out of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in West Ukraine and the Russian Empire in Eastern Ukraine and it was given to Stalin.
When the Soviet Union was in a time of troubles in the late 1980s, once again Western powers created another artificial construct called Ukraine and it included traditional Russian lands and people.
Eastern Ukraine IS Russian and always will be so the fascists in Kiev need to get over it and get out of Russian lands, period!
The longer Zelensky delays a peace deal the more likely Odessa will come home to Mother Russia!