RTThu, 04 Jul 2024 14:22 UTC
© RIABurnt equipment in Uglegorsk. In the background, a convoy of buses from the DPR is heading to Debaltsevo to evacuate local residents from the combat zone.
Hostilities can only be suspended if "irreversible" steps are taken by Kiev, Vladimir Putin has said
A ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev can only be agreed if Ukraine takes certain "irreversible" steps that would be "acceptable" for Russia, President Vladimir Putin has said. Otherwise, a cessation of hostilities would be used by Kiev to rearm itself and get ready to continue the conflict, he added.
The president made the remarks during a press conference at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.
"We simply cannot declare a ceasefire in the hope that the opposing side will take some positive steps," Putin said.
"We cannot allow the adversary to take advantage of this ceasefire to improve its positions, rearm itself, fill up its army through forced mobilization, and get prepared to continue the armed conflict," he added.
Comment:
From the same source:
4 Jul, 2024 12:15
'Istanbul deal' could be used for future talks with Kiev - Putin
The unsigned draft focused on Ukraine's neutrality and offered the country security guarantees
Moscow and Kiev could use a tentative agreement reached during talks in Istanbul early in the Ukraine conflict as a basis for further negotiations, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
The Russian leader was referring to a draft document that was on the verge of being formally signed in the Turkish capital in the spring of 2022. He said last year that under its terms, Ukraine would have committed to "permanent neutrality," receive certain security guarantees and downsize its military.
Moscow claims that the talks were derailed by then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who allegedly advised Kiev to "keep fighting." Johnson has denied the accusation, however staff who were close to Vladimir Zelensky at time admit he had an influential role.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, Putin reiterated that Russia - unlike Ukraine, which he said refused to engage with Moscow on direct orders from the West - has never closed the door to peace talks.
"The Istanbul agreements... have not gone away, they were initialed by the head of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation, which obviously means that Ukraine was quite satisfied with them," he said, thanking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for helping to broker the deal.
"These agreements remain on the table and could serve as the basis for continuing those talks."
Kiev has refused to hold direct talks with the current leadership in Moscow since the autumn of 2022, after four of its former regions voted overwhelmingly to join Russia. In June, however, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky said that the two countries could negotiate via intermediaries.
Last month, Putin said that Russia was ready to immediately open peace talks with Ukraine if it withdraws troops from Donbass and two of its other former regions, and commits to neutral status. He added that any final deal should be recognized in Western capitals and pave the way to lifting sanctions against Russia. Both Kiev and its Western backers have dismissed the offer.
Meanwhile, Zelensky has been promoting his 'peace formula' demanding that Russia withdraw its troops from the territories Kiev claims as its own and the establishment of a tribunal to prosecute Moscow for alleged war crimes. Russia has rejected the plan as divorced from reality.
The Minsk agreements were with the knowledge of both the co-signers, Germany and France, and in a larger context the US and NATO used as an opportunity to build up the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainian Government never intended to fulfil their obligations. Add to this that the Ukrainian Constitution was changed in 2019 to obligate the President and Government to work for full membership of NATO and the EU. This ties in with US global interests:
The empire needs resources: Ukraine is a 'gold mine' - US senatorIf the sanctions from the EU and the NATO states against Russia would have to be lifted as a result of an agreement, layer upon layer would have to be peeled off. For now EU proudly passed on
June 24, 2024 the 14th package since February 2022. For an overview of current EU sanctions against Russia, see this
link to the EU Sanctions Map, but passing sanctions against Russia is a recurrent theme, see this paper:
European Union's sanctions regime on the Russian Federation from 2014 to 2022. For a timeline of US and EU sanctions between 2014 and September 2018, see also
this page.
At the moment ceasefire, negotiations and agreements are a ways off.
Comment:
From the same source:
4 Jul, 2024 12:15
'Istanbul deal' could be used for future talks with Kiev - Putin The Minsk agreements were with the knowledge of both the co-signers, Germany and France, and in a larger context the US and NATO used as an opportunity to build up the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainian Government never intended to fulfil their obligations. Add to this that the Ukrainian Constitution was changed in 2019 to obligate the President and Government to work for full membership of NATO and the EU. This ties in with US global interests: The empire needs resources: Ukraine is a 'gold mine' - US senator
If the sanctions from the EU and the NATO states against Russia would have to be lifted as a result of an agreement, layer upon layer would have to be peeled off. For now EU proudly passed on June 24, 2024 the 14th package since February 2022. For an overview of current EU sanctions against Russia, see this link to the EU Sanctions Map, but passing sanctions against Russia is a recurrent theme, see this paper: European Union's sanctions regime on the Russian Federation from 2014 to 2022. For a timeline of US and EU sanctions between 2014 and September 2018, see also this page.
At the moment ceasefire, negotiations and agreements are a ways off.