Putin offers truce if Ukraine exits Russian-claimed areas and drops NATO bid

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin promised on Friday to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and commence negotiations if Kyiv begins withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounces plans to join NATO. Ukraine labelled Putin’s proposal as “manipulative” and “absurd.”

Putin’s remarks came as Switzerland prepared to host numerous world leaders—excluding those from Moscow—this weekend to outline initial steps toward peace in Ukraine. They coincided with a meeting of leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations in Italy and followed a 10-year security agreement signed between the US and Ukraine this week, which Russian officials, including Putin, denounced as “null and void.”

Putin criticised the Swiss conference as “just another ploy to divert everyone’s attention, reverse the cause and effect of the Ukrainian crisis, and set the discussion on the wrong track.” In his speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry, he stressed the Kremlin’s readiness to start negotiations without delay, aiming for a “final resolution” of the conflict rather than merely “freezing it.”

Putin’s broader demands for peace include Ukraine’s recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, maintaining the country’s non-nuclear status, limiting its military capabilities, and safeguarding the interests of the Russian-speaking population. He asserted that these points should be included in “fundamental international agreements” and insisted that all Western sanctions against Russia be lifted.

“We urge turning this tragic page of history and begin restoring, step-by-step, the unity between Russia and Ukraine, and in Europe in general,” he said.

Speaking to a group of sombre Foreign Ministry officials and senior lawmakers, Putin’s remarks represented a rare occasion where he clearly outlined his conditions for ending the war in Ukraine though no new demands were included. The Kremlin has previously stated that Kyiv should recognize its territorial gains and abandon its bid to join NATO.

However, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry dismissed Putin’s plan as “manipulative” and “absurd,” designed to “mislead the international community, undermine diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving a just peace, and split the unity of the world majority around the goals and principles of the UN Charter.”

In addition to seeking NATO membership, Ukraine demands the withdrawal of Russian forces from its territory, including Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014; the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity; accountability for Russian war crimes; and reparations from Moscow to Kyiv.

Since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces have shifted their focus to the south and east after failing to capture the capital, Kyiv. Russia has illegally annexed regions in the east and south, although it doesn’t fully control any of them.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on social media that there was nothing new in Putin’s proposal, describing it as the “standard aggressor’s set” heard many times before.

“There is no novelty, no real peace proposals, and no desire to end the war. Instead, there is a desire to avoid paying for this war and continue it in new formats. It’s all a complete sham,” Podolyak wrote on X.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels, emphasized that Putin “has illegally occupied sovereign Ukrainian territory” and is “not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about peace.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg added, “This is not a peace proposal. This is a proposal for more aggression, more occupation, and it demonstrates that Russia’s aim is to control Ukraine.”

Putin insisted that Kyiv withdraw from all four annexed regions and cede them to Moscow.

In Zaporizhzhia, Russia still doesn’t control the region’s administrative capital; in Kherson, Moscow withdrew from the capital city in November 2022.

If Kyiv and Western capitals reject his offer, Putin said, “It is their business, their political and moral responsibility for continuing the bloodshed.”

The Kremlin has repeatedly expressed readiness for peace talks with Kyiv, blaming the West for undermining efforts to end the conflict.

Putin also claimed that Russian troops never intended to storm Kyiv, describing their presence as an operation to force peace negotiations. Moscow withdrew from Kyiv in March 2022 amid fierce Ukrainian resistance that slowed Russia’s advances.

In the same month, Putin said he had considered withdrawing forces from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia and ceding occupied parts back to Ukraine, provided Russia retained a “strong land connection” to Crimea. However, the Kremlin later annexed both regions along with Donetsk and Luhansk, citing sham referendums.

On Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported shooting down 87 Ukrainian drones, most targeting the Rostov region. In Russia’s Belgorod region, a residential building collapsed after Ukrainian shelling, injuring three people.

Ukraine’s military has faced challenges, with troops outnumbered and short on ammunition and weaponry due to delays in Western military aid. Russia has targeted Ukraine’s power grid with drones, and recent attacks injured several people in the Donetsk region and the northern Sumy region.

Additionally, Russia returned the bodies of 254 Ukrainian soldiers to Ukraine, according to Kyiv, where they will be identified and returned to their families.