Putin expressed his willingness for peace, but made it clear that he meant peace on Russian conditions.
Russia calls for peace despite 44 weeks of war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Moscow's rejected Ukraine's peace terms and threatened to worsen its military fate if it did not accept Russia's terms. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that "our goal is not to spin the flywheel of a military conflict, but rather to end this war".
White House national security spokesman John Kirby is skeptical, saying Putin has "shown absolutely no sign of willingness to negotiate" to end the 10-month conflict. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on Friday that it observed an increase in Russian rail transport of troops, equipment and ammunition to combat zones. The
geolocation footage shows a train carrying Russian T-90M and T-62M tanks traveling from Rostov, Russia to Lugansk . Meanwhile, Ukrainian operations on the Eastern Front may be bearing fruit. The Institute for The Study of War, a Washington think tank, said the pace of Russian attacks in Lugansk and neighboring Donetsk and was slowing down.
Ukraine has also sustained long-range drone strikes on Russian air bases, likely to have a psychological effect, showing that it can strike deep inside Russian territory. On Sunday night, an explosion occurred near the Engels air base in Saratov, 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Russian territory, Russian sources reported. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian army shot down a Ukrainian drone approaching the Engels airport at low altitude, and the wreckage of the drone killed three Russian soldiers.
Putin used Christmas to reiterate the peace offer, saying in a television interview that Russia was ready to negotiate. But Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, was more direct, threatening to deliver an ultimatum to Ukraine. The "demilitarization" mentioned by Russia usually means giving up Ukrainian territory as a buffer zone and giving up the right to join NATO in the future.
Putin and other Russian officials often refer to Zelensky and his government as Nazis, and "denazification" is often taken to mean the overthrow of the current Ukrainian government. Lavrov said Ukraine's "futile" resistance, encouraged by the United States, was the reason for prolonging and escalating the war. He said, "As for the duration of the conflict, the initiative is on the side of the Ukrainian regime, and Washington is behind it." "They can stop pointless resistance at any time." supporter. The US House of Representatives last week approved $45 billion in defense and financial aid to Kyiv, building on the $70 billion in aid approved earlier this year. The United States, Britain and Germany are the three largest countries providing military aid to Ukraine, with current commitments of 22.86 billion euros ($24.37 billion), 4.13 billion euros ($4.4 billion) and 2.34 billion euros ($2.49 billion). Frank said so far EU member states had committed 11.71 billion euros ($12.48 billion) collectively and individually.
Zelensky outlined a peace plan at the G20 summit in indonesia last month and on Monday he asked the body's new chair India and its leader Narendra Modi prime minister Help implement the plan. "It was on this platform that I announced the peace package and now I am counting on India to participate in its implementation," Zelensky said. Zelensky's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Ukraine It is seeking to launch a peace conference by February under the supervision of the United Nations.
This "peace plan" includes the withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territories occupied since 2014, including Donbass and Crimea region, Zelensky also wants Russian commanders and politicians to be held accountable in war crimes courts. In this regard, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (Dmitry Peskov) said that Russia will not be bound by the conditions set by other countries.
