The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, communicated this Monday by telephone with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, and informed him what are the Russia’s conditions to end the war with Ukraine.
The Russian president stressed that the resolution of the conflict “was possible only if the legitimate security interests of Russia were taken into account without condition“, according to a Kremlin statement.
“The Russian side is open to negotiations with representatives of Ukraine and hopes that they will lead to the expected results,” the Russian presidency assured.
Macron and Putin were referring to the negotiations between Kiev and Moscow that took place today in Belarus at the Alexandrovka-Vilcha checkpoint, on the border with Ukraine.
The negotiators of both parties returned to their capitals and will continue with the dialogue in a “second round“, announced the adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Mikhail Podoliak.
“Today the delegations of Ukraine and Russia held the first round of negotiations whose main objective was to discuss the issues of ceasefire and cessation of hostilities on the territory of Ukraine,” Podoliak told reporters, according to the Sputnik agency.
Among the preliminary conditions for a resolution of the conflict raised by Putin to the President of France, are the following:
* The recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
* The demilitarization of Ukraine.
* The ‘denazification’ of the Ukrainian state
* The promise of the neutral (country) status of Ukraine.