Putin offers peace with Ukraine on conditions

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged on Friday to cease fire in Ukraine if Kiev withdraws its forces from four regions and abandons plans to join NATO.

Putin threatened that "if Kiev and the West reject the new peace proposal, then the conditions will be different."

Putin offers peace

Putin demanded "the cancellation of all Western sanctions imposed on Russia as a condition for peace talks on Ukraine."

He explained that "Ukrainian forces must completely withdraw from the territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics and the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, after which Russia will be ready to start negotiations."

Putin considered that the will of the residents of the Donbass, Novorossiya, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions to be with Russia is unshakable, and this issue has been closed forever.

Settlement in Ukraine

He said: "The residents of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions expressed their position during the referendums, and the two regions, as well as the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, have become part of Russia, and there can be no talk of violating the unity of our state." Putin stressed that the will of the people to be with Russia is unshakable, the issue is closed forever and can no longer be discussed.

He called for "fixing the status of the Crimean Peninsula, Sevastopol, the Donetsk and Lugansk republics, the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions as territories of Russia in international treaties."

He stressed that "it is impossible to reach a settlement in Ukraine without the participation of Russia and without a sincere dialogue with it."