Ukrainian Foreign Ministry underscored on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's peace proposal is "absurd," claiming that his "manipulative statements" are aimed to "mislead" the international community and "undermine" diplomatic efforts to reach peace.
"All of Putin's ultimatums have been heard many times from Moscow and there is nothing new in these statements," the ministry said in the statement, condemning the Russian president's statement about the Global Peace Summit that will be held in Switzerland this weekend. "Putin pursues only one goal: to prevent the participation of leaders and countries in this summit," the ministry added.
The Russian head of state previously said that Moscow would be open to initiating peace negotiations with Kiev in exchange for Ukraine giving up its ambitions to join NATO and completely withdrawing its military from the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
