Putin issues Zelensky surrender demand to ‘save lives’ in Ukraine war | World | News

Today, Vladimir Putin demanded surrender from Volodymyr Zelenskiy by immediately handing over all the lands he controls in the Donetsk region in exchange for the end of the “hot war”. Russia’s ruler has authorized his spokesman Dmitry Peskov to publicly insist on Ukraine’s surrender.

“Theoretically, Zelensky should have made this decision yesterday,” Peskov said. “As we said, he should have taken responsibility and made this difficult decision. This could have saved many lives and, most importantly, allowed us to stop the hot phase of this war.” .

Putin’s threat came in response to Zelensky’s statement that the Kremlin had given Ukraine a two-month deadline to withdraw its troops from Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, or it would face harsher conditions in a possible peace agreement.

Peskov said the Americans cannot get involved in a peace agreement right now because they are “preoccupied with the situation in the Middle East.”

“As for two months, this is not a matter of two months. Zelensky needs to make a decision today for the departure of Ukrainian troops from Donbas.

“And leave, go beyond the administrative borders of the Donetsk People’s Republic. This has been stated many times.”

Ukraine refuses to surrender the remaining one-fifth of the Donbass it controls, believing Putin will use this as a springboard to further invade not only Ukraine but perhaps Europe as well, now or in the future.

Zelensky said, “We are ready for a ceasefire where we are.” “This is a strong position of compromise to move towards a diplomatic solution,” he added.

Russia could accept this and immediately stop the four-year war.

Putin rejects this because he fears it will publicly humiliate him and his military for failing to make significant gains against a much smaller Ukraine.

The United States wants the war in Ukraine to end, but trilateral talks have been stalled due to the conflict in the Gulf.

“For obvious reasons, they are currently unable to actively participate in trilateral negotiations on Ukrainian issues,” Peskov said, while demanding Zelensky bow down and give up territory as the price of ending the war.

Putin began occupying Donbas in 2014, but failed to capture the entire region in 12 years.