File photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
File photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given a statement regarding Ukraine. He said that an African initiative could lead to peace in Ukraine, but Ukrainian attacks have made this difficult to realise.
According to media reports, he met African leaders in St. Petersburg on Friday and heard their demand for Moscow to go ahead with its plan. After this he was speaking at a press conference. He said that there are provisions of this peace initiative, which are being implemented, but there are things which are difficult or impossible to implement.
Ukrainian army is on the offensive, they’re attacking
Reuters reported in June that African mediation in the conflict could begin with confidence-building measures, followed by negotiations between Russia and the West to conclude an agreement to end hostilities. Putin said that one point of the initiative was a ceasefire. “But the Ukrainian army is on the offensive, they are attacking, they are conducting a large-scale strategic offensive… We cannot stop firing when we are under attack.”
Consent is required from both the parties
On the question of starting peace talks, he said, “We have not ruled them out… To start this process, both sides need to agree.”
rejected the idea of ceasefire
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has now rejected the idea of a ceasefire that would give Russia control of nearly a fifth of his country and give its forces time to regroup after 17 months of war.
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