Vladimir Putin has said Ukraine would need to withdraw troops from territories Russia claims to have annexed before a ceasefire could begin – a proposal Ukraine’s president called a Hitler-like “ultimatum”.
Volodymyr Zelensky has long said Ukraine will not negotiate with Moscow until Russian forces leave all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea.
The Russian president also said Ukraine would have to give up on joining Nato before peace talks could start.
Mr Putin’s statement setting out his ceasefire conditions comes as leaders from 90 countries prepare to meet in Switzerland on Saturday to discuss paths towards peace in Ukraine – a summit Russia has not been invited to.
Speaking to a meeting of Russian ambassadors in Moscow on Friday, Mr Putin called on the Ukrainian government to withdraw from four regions partially occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
He also said Ukraine would need to officially give up in its efforts to join the Nato military alliance for the Russian advance to be halted.
Mr Putin said: “As soon as Kyiv declares that it is ready for such a decision… an order to cease fire and begin negotiations will immediately follow from our side, literally at the same minute.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called the proposal a “complete sham” and “offensive to common sense”.
Later on Friday, President Zelensky told Italy’s Sky TG24 television: “These messages are ultimatum messages. It’s the same thing Hitler did, when he said ‘give me a part of Czechoslovakia and it’ll end here’.”
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin also dismissed the Russian demands, saying: “Putin has illegally occupied sovereign Ukrainian territory.
“He is not in any position to dictate to Ukraine what they must do to bring about a peace.”
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Mr Putin’s proposal was “not made in good faith”.
