On 26 December Vladimir Putin, referring to Donald Trump's proposal to hold Ukraine's NATO membership by 10–20 years, stated that it did not substance whether Ukraine would join NATO Today, tomorrow, or in 10 years.
Putin's message of 26 December fits into a series of comments he has late made, confirming his refusal to consider a compromise on his demands from the turn of 2021 and 2022. These demands include forcing Ukraine to become a permanently neutral country that will never join NATO, imposing strict restrictions on the numbers of the Ukrainian army and removing Ukrainian authorities – reads the report.
The head of the Russian MFA, Sergei Lavrov, stated yesterday in an interview that Volodymyr Zelenski is no longer the rightful leader of Ukraine according to its constitution and the country should hold presidential elections. Russia puts the change of power in Kiev as a prerequisite for peace talks.
Two years ago, it was close.
In the first days of the war in Ukraine there were intense peace talks between Moscow and Kiev. Both sides seemed ready to make serious concessions. The breakthrough in the negotiations took place in late March 2022 in Istanbul, where Russia and Ukraine announced the accomplishment of a common text of the communication, the alleged Istanbul message. Its content was developed by the Ukrainian side, and the Russians accepted it as a basis for a later peace treaty. Under this agreement, Ukraine was to adopt neutral position and Russia was to retreat its opposition to Ukraine's membership of the EU and open the question of belonging to Crimea, which it had previously considered closed.
As we know, the negotiations have not yet been successful.
Europe needs peace
According to a survey by the YouGov Institute and published on Thursday by the British Guardian Journal, Europeans are increasingly little enthusiastic about extending the war so that Ukraine achieves victory. In 4 of the 7 countries surveyed, negotiations with Russia became the preferred option.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenski, reported in December on social media that since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion Ukraine lost 43,000 soldiers and 370 000 were injured.
We request a fair and strong peace that the Russians will not destruct in a fewer years, as they have already done. This is clear not only to our country and region. We see Russia now trying to conquer Georgia after respective wars with this country. Russia is inactive not giving up on Moldova. The Russians are now fleeing Syria, but that does not mean that they will not effort to sow death there again. Russian troops are even present in Africa, and their goal is to destabilize said Zelenski.
