Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday vowed to order a ceasefire in Ukraine "immediately" and proceed towards negotiations with the country if Kyiv began withdrawing its troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow. Another condition stated by Putin was Kyiv shoud renounce its plans to join NATO.
"We will do it immediately," the Russia President stated in a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, news agency Associated Press reported.
Putin's remarks came as the leaders of the Group of Seven nations are in Italy for the G7 Outreach Summit in Apulia. Also, this comes ahead of the 'Summit on Peace in Ukraine' hosted by Switzerland, which will be attended by scores of world leaders. Russia had, however, dismissed this summit, calling it irrelevant.
On Thursday, Ukraine signed a 10-year security agreement with Japan and will also be signing a similar agreement with the United States on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy.
This deal appears a nonstarter for Ukraine, which wants to become a part of the military alliance and has demanded that Russia should withdraw all its troops from its territory.
Till now, there has not been any immediate comment from Kyiv on Putin’s proposal.
In his proposal, Putin stated that it is an attempt at achieveing a “final resolution” of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, instead of just “freezing it”.
He also stressed that the Kremlin was “ready to start negotiations without delay."
Apart from the withdrawal of troops and renouncement of NATO bid, Russia, in its list of conditions also included other broader demands from Ukraine to achieve peace. These included Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population in the country, and restrictions on its military force, AP reported.
"All of these should become part of 'fundamental international agreements,' and all Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted," Putin stated.
He added, "We’re urging to turn this tragic page of history and to begin restoring, step-by-step, restore the unity between Russia and Ukraine and in Europe in general."