Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on March 7 that Russia will “in an instant” stop its multi-pronged invasion of Ukraine if Kyiv renounces claims on certain parts of territory and adheres to a non- bloc status.
Speaking to Reuters in a telephone interview, Peskov said peace could be reached if Ukraine lays down its arms, amends its constitution to abandon the goal of joining NATO, and acknowledges Russia’s claim on the Crimean Peninsula and the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine.
He told the news agency that the Ukrainian side was aware of these conditions. There was no immediate reaction in Kyiv about the Kremlin’s demands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a fuller-scale invasion of the neighboring country on Feb. 24 as part of war he is ben waging in Ukraine when Russia seized Crimea and invaded the easternmost regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Peskov demanded changes to Ukraine’s constitution since joining the European Union and NATO are enshrined in the document.
“We really are finishing the demilitarization of Ukraine,” Peskov added. “We will finish it. But the main thing is that Ukraine ceases its military action. They should stop their military action and then no-one will shoot.”
Kyiv estimates that more than 11,000 Russian troops and hundreds of various pieces of military hardware had been destroyed as of March 7. Ukraine isn’t disclosing its military casualty figures.
A third round of negotiations to end Putin’s unprovoked invasion between mid-level delegations of Ukraine and Russia is currently underway at the Belarusian-Polish border.
Turkey’s foreign minister announced the same day that he will on March 9 host a meeting in Ankara between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
