On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin de facto set the surrender of Ukraine as a condition for talks, on the eve of a summit in Switzerland dedicated to ways to achieve peace, from which Russia was excluded.
The Kremlin mastermind, whose army has been taking the initiative on the battlefield against Ukrainian forces short on manpower and ammunition for months, has demanded that Kiev abandon its ambitions to join NATO and withdraw its forces from the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye.
“As soon as Kiev (…) begins an effective withdrawal of troops and gives notice of the abandonment of its plan to join NATO, we will immediately, this minute, issue an order for a cease-fire and the start of negotiations,” Mr. Putin told Russian Foreign Ministry executives. jobs.
And he insisted again that he wants a Ukraine that is “neutral, non-aligned, without nuclear weapons, demilitarized and de-Nazified.” These demands represent a de facto demand for the capitulation of Ukraine, aimed at restoring its territorial integrity and preserving its sovereignty.
If Moscow has the initiative on the front, the Russian army, which has been suffering significant losses for two years, cannot break through the Ukrainian lines and gain a decisive advantage over Ukraine.
In September 2022, the Kremlin announced the annexation of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine, in addition to that of Crimea in 2014.
– Putin condemns “theft” –
Vladimir Putin insisted on Friday that Ukraine must hand over all these territories to Russia, even though Moscow has only partially occupied them and fighting is still raging there.
The Russian president also denigrated the peace summit, from which Russia was excluded, planned in Switzerland for June 15 and 16 at the initiative of Ukraine. Kiev hopes that around 90 delegations present will reach a consensus to increase pressure on Russia and its isolation.
Mr Putin rejected “a ploy to divert everyone’s attention” from the real people responsible for the conflict, namely, in his interpretation, Ukraine and the West.
Mykhaïlo Podoliak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, insisted that Russia’s demands “contrary to common sense” and represented a “violation of international law”.
Vladimir Putin also condemned Thursday’s G7 decision to guarantee a $50 billion loan to Ukraine with future interest on Russian assets frozen since the start of the Russian offensive.
“Western countries have frozen part of Russia’s property and foreign exchange reserves and are now considering the legal basis to definitely appropriate them,” he said, “even if we embellish things, theft is the rest of theft and will not go unpunished.” .”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considered it “right that Russia pays”, but he demanded from the G7 a pure and simple seizure of 300 billion euros of Russian Central Bank assets frozen by the West for two years, which they refuse for legal reasons.
– A surprising confession –
After all, the Russian president suddenly revealed the goals of the first days of his attack, he who has always maintained that his offensive was not aimed at conquering Ukrainian territories.
On Friday, he said one goal was to capture Mariupol, the port city that suffered a gruesome siege in 2022, and another was to force Ukraine to grant him a land bridge across southern Ukraine to link Russia with annexed Crimea.
Mr. Putin thus said that he “did not rule out” giving Kiev sovereignty over the south of the country, “provided, however, that Russia has a firm land connection with Crimea.”
He said that on March 5, 2022, the distinguished guest who offered his mediation services was informed about this claim. The Russian president did not reveal the name of this official, but the then Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was in the Kremlin that day.
AFP