Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the leadership of the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would only conclude the war in Ukraine if Kyiv agreed to abandon its NATO aspirations and relinquish full control of four provinces claimed by Moscow. These demands were promptly dismissed by Kyiv as tantamount to surrender.
On the eve of a Switzerland conference to which Russia was not invited, Putin articulated maximalist conditions in stark contrast to the terms sought by Ukraine. This stance seemingly reflects Moscow’s growing confidence in its military position. Putin reiterated his long-standing demands for Ukraine’s demilitarization and insisted that any peace agreement must include the lifting of Western sanctions. Additionally, he reiterated his call for Ukraine’s “denazification,” a term Kyiv vehemently rejects as a slur against its leadership.
Ukraine characterized these conditions as “absurd.” Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, remarked to Reuters, “He is offering for Ukraine to admit defeat. He is offering for Ukraine to legally give up its territories to Russia. He is offering for Ukraine to sign away its geopolitical sovereignty.” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking to Italy’s SkyTG24 news channel, asserted that Putin’s statements amounted to an ultimatum, strategically timed to coincide with the Swiss summit.
“It is clear he (Putin) understands that there will be a peace summit. It is clear he understands the majority in the world are on Ukraine’s side, on the side of life,” Zelenskiy stated. “And on the eve of the summit, amid air raid sirens, the killing of people, and missile attacks, he speaks as though he is issuing some sort of ultimatum.” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, countered that Putin is not in a position to dictate terms to Ukraine for peace.
The timing of Putin’s address was evidently intended to preempt the Swiss summit, which is billed as a “peace conference” despite Russia’s exclusion. At this summit, Zelenskiy seeks a demonstration of international support for Kyiv’s conditions to end the conflict.
Putin outlined his conditions as follows: the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions in eastern and southern Ukraine. Russia claimed these four regions as part of its territory in 2022, although its forces only partially control them. Most United Nations member states have rejected these annexations as illegal. Additionally, Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.
“As soon as they declare in Kyiv that they are ready for such a decision and begin a real withdrawal of troops from these regions, and also officially announce the abandonment of their plans to join NATO – on our side, immediately, literally at the same minute, an order will follow to cease fire and begin negotiations,” Putin stated. “I repeat, we will do this immediately. Naturally, we will simultaneously guarantee the unhindered and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units and formations.”
Russia currently controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the third year of the conflict. Ukraine insists that peace must be predicated on the complete withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of its 1991 post-Soviet borders.
The upcoming summit in Switzerland, attended by representatives from over 90 nations and organizations, is expected to focus on issues such as food security and nuclear safety in Ukraine, avoiding territorial disputes. The Kremlin has dismissed the conference as “futile” without Russian representation.
Putin’s conditions seem to indicate his increased confidence in Moscow’s capacity to enforce its terms, given its gradual military advances in recent months. He asserted that “the future existence of Ukraine” hinges on its withdrawal of forces, adoption of a neutral status, and commencement of negotiations with Russia. Putin warned that Kyiv’s military situation would deteriorate if it rejected this proposal.
“Today we are making another concrete, real peace proposal. If in Kyiv and in the Western capitals they refuse it as before, then, in the end, it is their business, their political and moral responsibility for the continuation of bloodshed,” Putin declared.
Ukraine and its Western allies have described the conflict as an imperialistic war of territorial conquest. Ukraine maintains that any demand for its demilitarization or future neutrality would leave it vulnerable to further Russian aggression.
Putin’s speech coincided with a week in which the United States imposed additional sanctions on Russia, announced a 10-year security pact with Ukraine—viewed as a potential step towards NATO membership—and agreed with its Group of Seven allies to use interest on frozen Russian assets to support a $50 billion loan to Kyiv.
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