Russia says it does the cession of its annexed territories by Ukraine as a precondition for peace negotiations. Kiev must “take account of the realities that have developed on the ground,” says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow.
At the end of September, Moscow declared the annexation of the four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, after annexing the Crimean peninsula in 2014. However, Russia has no complete military control over these areas. Large parts of the international community do not recognize the annexations.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov now explains that the “realities” he is addressing are that “the Russian Federation has new territories as a result of referendums that have taken place in these territories”. He considers diplomatic progress to be “impossible” as long as Kiev “does not take these realities into account”.
For its part, Ukraine is demanding the complete withdrawal of the Russian army and the return of all areas occupied by Moscow.