Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with scientists during a visit to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, June 13, 2024.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday laid out demands that Moscow begin peace talks with Ukraine, more than two years after the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
According to a Google Translate Telegram update from Russian state news outlet Tass, the conditions include allowing Ukrainian troops to withdraw from the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions that Russia illegally annexed months after the start of hostilities in September 2022. It involves complete withdrawal.
Putin also called for a commitment that Ukraine would abandon its long-standing ambition to join the Western-led NATO military alliance, an ambition Moscow views as incompatible with its security interests.
Ukraine has repeatedly said it will not cede any territory to Russia.
This breaking news story is being updated.
