Putin says Ukraine must remain neutral

8/11/2024 6:14

        President Vladimir Putin
        said on Thursday that Ukraine should remain neutral for there to
        be a chance for peace, adding that the borders of Ukraine should
        be in accordance with the wishes of the people living in
        Russian-claimed territory.
        
        "If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine
        the existence of any good-neighborly relations between Russia
        and Ukraine," Putin said.
        
        Putin said Russia had recognised Ukraine's post-Soviet
        borders based on the understanding that it would be neutral. The
        U.S.-led NATO military alliance has repeatedly said that Ukraine
        would one day join.
        
        If Ukraine was not neutral, it would be "constantly used
        as a tool in the wrong hands and to the detriment of the
        interests of the Russian Federation," Putin said.
        
        Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine after more than
        two and a half years of war. Putin on
        
        June 14
        
        set out his terms for an end to the conflict: Ukraine would
        have to drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops
        from all of the territory of the regions claimed by Russia.
        
        Ukraine rejects those conditions as tantamount to
        surrender and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has presented a
        "victory plan" for which he has requested additional Western
        support.
        
        "We are determined to create conditions for a long-term
        settlement so that Ukraine is an independent, sovereign state,
        and not an instrument in the hands of third countries, and not
        used in their interests," Putin said.
        
        Asked about the future borders of Ukraine, Putin said:
        "The borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the
        sovereign decisions of people who live in certain territories
        and which we call our historical territories."
        
        Ukraine says that it will not rest until every last
        Russian soldier is ejected from its territory though even U.S.
        generals say that such an aim would take massive resources that
        Ukraine currently does not have.