Russia rejects Zelenskiy’s peace proposal, says Ukraine must accept new ‘realities’
Ukraine must take into account the new territorial “realities” that include Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions, the Kremlin has said in response to Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s three-step proposal for peace.
In a statement to G7 countries yesterday, the Ukrainian leader said Russia could begin to withdraw its troops from the territory of Ukraine to show they are capable of abandoning their aggression.
Zelenskiy told G7 leaders he was offering Moscow an “opportunity to make a real, meaningful step towards diplomatic settlement” of the conflict.
He said:
The holidays are ahead, celebrated by billions of people around the world: Christmas of the Gregorian calendar, New Year, Christmas of the Julian calendar. This is the time when normal people think about peace, not about aggression. I offer Russia the opportunity to at least try to demonstrate that they can abandon the way of aggression. It would be right to start withdrawing Russian troops from internationally recognised borders of Ukraine this Christmas. If Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine, it will ensure a lasting cessation of hostilities.
Russia does not have full control of any of the four provinces of Ukraine it says it annexed in September, but which most UN member countries have condemned as illegal.
In response, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine needed to accept new territorial “realities”, including that the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of Ukraine were Russia’s “new subjects”.
Asked about the proposed Russian troop withdrawal, Peskov said:
The Ukrainian side needs to take into account the realities that have developed during this time. And these realities indicate that new subjects have appeared in the Russian Federation. They appeared as a result of referendums that took place in these territories. Without taking these new realities into account, no kind of progress is possible.
There could be “no question” of Moscow beginning to pull out its troops by the end of the year, he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...ks-hungary-stalemate-to-approve-18bn-aid-plan
