MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ridiculed upcoming Ukraine peace talks in Switzerland, warning that Russia will not accept coercive plans that ignore its interests.
The Swiss government announced Wednesday that it will hold a high-level international conference in June to chart a path towards peace in Ukraine after more than two years of fighting, raising hopes that Russia may one day join the peace process. expressed.
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Putin accused Russia of not being invited to participate in the June talks, pointing to Switzerland’s recognition that a peace process cannot happen without Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) listens to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Gabriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo, via AP)
“They haven’t invited us there,” Putin said. “Moreover, they think that there is nothing we can do there, but at the same time they say that it is impossible to decide anything without us. It would be funny if it were not so sad.”
Russia has rejected a peace plan from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that called for Moscow to withdraw its troops, pay reparations to Ukraine and face an international tribunal for its actions.
During Thursday’s meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow, Putin said Russia was ready to negotiate but would never accept “plans that have no connection with reality.”
President Putin has reiterated that he sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022 to protect Russia’s interests and prevent Ukraine from becoming a serious security threat to Russia if it joins NATO. I’ve said it. Kiev and its allies denounced the Russian military operation as an unprovoked act of aggression.
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President Putin insisted that Russia’s military had the upper hand after Ukraine’s failed counterattack last year, and insisted that Ukraine and the West would have to accept a settlement on Russia’s terms “sooner or later.” .
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned last week that future negotiations to end the fighting in Ukraine could only succeed if they take Moscow’s interests into account, and a series of planned peace talks denied it was a Western ploy to rally broad international support for Kiev.
