Ukraine must fully withdraw its troops from 4 occupied regions to start talks with Russia - Putin. VIDEO

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Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian military should allegedly withdraw from the temporarily occupied territories within the administrative borders for "peace talks" with Russia. Then Russia will "immediately cease fire".

He said this during a speech to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Censor.NET reports.

The Kremlin leader has allegedly put forward "new conditions for the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine".

Putin said that in order to start negotiations, Ukraine must completely withdraw its army from the temporarily occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

In addition, Ukraine should not join NATO and should have a "neutral, non-aligned, non-nuclear status".

According to the dictator, "if these conditions are met, Russia will immediately cease fire".

I would like to emphasise to withdraw from the entire territory of these regions within their administrative borders, which existed at the time of their accession to Ukraine. As soon as Kyiv declares that it is ready for such a decision and begins the actual withdrawal of troops from these regions, as well as officially announces the abandonment of plans to join NATO, we will immediately, literally the very next minute, order a ceasefire and start negotiations. I repeat, we will do this immediately," Putin said.

The Kremlin leader added that the point of the Russian proposal is allegedly "not a temporary truce" because it is not about freezing the conflict, but about its "final end".

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that peace talks with Russia were unrealistic and that a peace agreement with Russia would be a "trap" because Putin would violate any agreement.

Author: Олена Гуляєва