Putin once again surprises the world with his irrationality! The Russian dictator proposed peace in exchange for lifting international sanctions on Russia…
Vladimir Putin believes that the West should lift all international sanctions imposed on Russia as part of a possible peace deal in Ukraine. The Russian dictator stated this on Friday during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
In a speech that lasted over an hour, Putin, for the first time in a long time, personally and publicly outlined a package of conditions for ending the war, which has made Russia the world’s sanctions record-holder and has resulted in the country’s greatest losses since World War II — over 500,000 people killed and wounded, according to Western intelligence.
“We are ready to sit at the negotiating table even tomorrow. Our conditions for starting such negotiations are simple and boil down to the following: Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions,” Putin said.
He clarified that this concerns not only the territories already captured by the Russian army. The troops must be withdrawn “from the entire territory of these regions, within their administrative borders that existed at the time of their entry into Ukraine,” Putin said.
The second condition, according to Putin, is Ukraine’s non-accession to NATO, as well as its non-aligned, neutral, and non-nuclear status. “All these basic and fundamental provisions must be enshrined in fundamental international agreements,” Putin said.
“Of course, this implies the lifting of all Western sanctions against Russia,” he added. (!!!)
Putin’s statements came two days after the U.S. radically expanded financial sanctions against Russia. The U.S. Treasury’s “blacklists” included the Moscow Exchange and its key clearing structures — the National Clearing Center (NCC) and the National Settlement Depository (NSD). As a result, the exchange was forced to halt trading in dollars and euros, putting an end to the history of free exchange operations with key global currencies that had been ongoing since 1992.
According to Putin, his package of conditions, which also includes “denazification,” “demilitarization,” and “ensuring the rights” of the Russian-speaking population, does not imply freezing the conflict but genuinely ending the war. Moreover, as follows from the Russian president’s words, he believes that if his demands are met, the “tragic page of history” can simply be “turned over.”
“We call for starting to restore relations of trust and good neighborliness between Russia and Ukraine and generally in Europe,” he said.
Official Kyiv merely twirled a finger near the temple and smiled skeptically in response to the Russian dictator’s ultimatum. The same reaction came from all world leaders. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called Putin’s statements today “absurd”! U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Putin “has no right” to set conditions for peace to Ukraine. He also urged U.S. allies to increase support for Kyiv as the conflict has entered “a critical stage.”
It has now become evident to everyone worldwide that Ukraine’s strong resistance and international sanctions have seriously frightened the Russian dictator in recent days, and he is now very nervous.
Tags: Putin Russia russia ukraine war sanctions Ukraine
