“Circumstances are worsening”
Kremlin warns Ukraine not to reject Putin’s offer
16.06.2024, 18:06
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The West agrees: Russia’s offer of a ceasefire is a dictated peace. The Kremlin recommends that Ukraine accept it anyway, because things will not get better, only worse. However, Moscow does not want to negotiate with Ukrainian President Zelensky.
The Kremlin has increased pressure on Ukraine by threatening to intensify its territorial demands. All of President Vladimir Putin’s peace initiatives are tied to the current circumstances at the front, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “The circumstances for Ukraine are getting worse every time.” The dynamics at the front show that the situation for Kiev will continue to deteriorate, Peskov continued. A responsible politician would therefore consider Putin’s offer.
The Kremlin spokesman’s statements come from an interview for Russian state television, which the Kremlin-friendly reporter Pavel Zarubin published in advance on Telegram.
Putin’s conditions
A few days ago, Putin demanded the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Russian-occupied regions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia as a precondition for a ceasefire. Moscow claims these regions as well as Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, although Russian troops only partially control them so far.
Ukraine has rejected the Kremlin’s demands as absurd and manipulative. “Putin is not striving for peace, he wants to divide the world,” said a statement from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. He is trying to portray himself as a peacemaker in the war he himself started. In the West, too, Putin’s demands were largely rejected as a “dictated peace.”
Russia’s threat to demand even more in the next round of negotiations is unlikely to deter the Ukrainian leadership. According to calculations by the independent Internet portal Meduza, Russia would only really control the four claimed territories in 14 years if the pace of conquests remains at the same level as in recent months.
No interest in Zelenskyj
In the interview, 56-year-old Peskov also stated that the Kremlin had no interest in concluding a contract with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. After the end of his term in office, Zelensky was no longer a legitimate representative of Kyiv, the Kremlin spokesman claimed.
Ukraine was unable to hold elections due to Russia’s war of aggression and the occupation of parts of the country. Among other things, there are concerns that polling stations cannot be protected from Russian missile attacks. According to Ukrainian lawyers, martial law covers the cancellation of the election. The thesis repeatedly put forward by Moscow that Zelensky is no longer a legitimate president is intended to cause unrest within Ukraine and to call into question Zelensky’s credibility.
Peskov apparently did not comment on the legitimacy of his own president in the interview: Putin has led Russia as president or prime minister since the turn of the millennium. In March, the 71-year-old was confirmed in office for the fifth time in a sham election. The opposition had previously been largely eliminated or, as in the case of Alexei Navalny, is dead. A constitutional amendment gives Putin the opportunity to run again in 2030 and remain in power until 2036.