The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy provided a “peace formula,” according to the Russian foreign minister, but Moscow will not accept it because Kyiv is still not prepared for serious peace negotiations.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kyiv is still not prepared for genuine peace talks, and Russia will not take Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s “peace formula” as a starting point for negotiations.
Additionally, Lavrov told RIA that Kyiv’s plan to expel Russia from Crimea and eastern Ukraine with Western assistance was “an illusion.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, has stated that he is vehemently promoting a 10-point peace proposal that calls on Russia to fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and withdraw all of its forces.
The Kremlin, however, rejected the proposal on Wednesday and reiterated its stance that Kyiv must accept Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions: Luhansk and Donetsk in the east, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in the south. The annexation was announced in September following “referendums” that Ukraine and most other countries rejected.
The accession of four areas into Russia has changed the reality of Russian territory, and no peace proposal for Ukraine can ignore this, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Plans that ignore these facts are incompatible with being peaceful.
In response to Russia’s aggression, Zelenskyy urged parliament to maintain its unity and thanked Ukrainians for their assistance in helping the West “find itself again.”
In the 45-minute speech delivered behind closed doors, Putin declared that “our national colors are today an international emblem of courage and indomitability of the whole globe.”
One of Ukraine’s most important victories in the war occurred last month when Russian forces left Kherson city. Strategically significant is the Kherson region, which sits near the mouth of the powerful Dnipro River and acts as a gateway to the Crimean Peninsula that Russia has annexed.
