Russia’s leaders at the Kremlin have provided a list of demands that Ukraine must fulfill if it wants the war to end.
The demands include Ukraine ceasing all military actions, changing its constitution to ensure neutrality, acknowledging Crimea as Russian territory, and recognizing two republics in the Donbas region as independent territories.
If Ukraine were to acknowledge these demands, Russia would halt military action “in a moment,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters. Ukraine is aware of these demands, Peskov claimed, adding that “they were told that all this can be stopped.”
The specific changes to Ukraine’s constitution include rejecting any attempt to join other blocs, such as NATO or the European Union, Peskov said. The demand arises days after the EU’s European Parliament voted in favor of Ukraine becoming a candidate to join.
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Peskov claimed that Russia was not going to attempt to take any additional territory from Ukraine.
“We really are finishing the demilitarization of Ukraine. 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,” he emphasized.
The public statement from the Kremlin arrived the same day as Russia and Ukraine’s delegations meet for a third round of peace negotiations. Both countries had agreed to establish corridors for evacuating citizens on Thursday, but little else was accomplished. However, the recently opened humanitarian corridors only lead to Russia or Russian ally Belarus.
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Ukrainian officials have also accused Russia of violating its ceasefire agreement after several civilians were injured and killed by a military strike on Sunday. There are also reports that a member of Ukraine’s negotiation delegation was killed while performing “special tasks.”
