Putin listed Russia’s conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine

“As soon as Kiev declares that it is ready for this decision, begins to actually withdraw troops from these regions, and officially announces the abandonment of its plans to join NATO, it will immediately issue a cease-fire order by us. Start negotiations,” Putin said during an address at the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, official Text broadcast live by television stations.

Putin said Russia was ready to guarantee the safe withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, which he said would be Russia’s precondition for starting peace talks with Ukraine.

Putin said Russia would be ready for such talks as early as “tomorrow” if Ukrainian troops withdraw from the Zaporozhye, Kherson (south), Donetsk and Luhansk (east) regions and Ukraine abandons plans to join NATO.

Putin said that if Ukraine agreed to these conditions, Russia would cease fire and begin negotiations, Reuters reported.

The Kremlin leader made the remarks at the Russian Foreign Ministry ahead of a summit in Switzerland where more than 90 countries and organizations will discuss a possible way to achieve peace in Ukraine on Saturday and Sunday. Russia is not invited and this meeting is a waste of time.

Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory in the third year of war, and Ukraine says peace can only come with the full withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of its territorial integrity.

In the same speech, Putin declared that the West’s current global security model has failed and that a way to work with Russia must be found.

Putin said the world had reached a point of no return due to what he called the failure of the “Western model” of global security, adding that it was time to replace it with a new and sustainable system.

“Obviously, we are witnessing the collapse of the Euro-Atlantic security system. Today it simply does not exist, it needs to be rebuilt, fundamentally,” Putin said.

“All of this requires us to work with our partners, all interested countries – and there are many – to make our own options for ensuring security in Eurasia, and then propose them to a wider international debate,” he said.

Putin said that it was time to discuss a new security system in Europe and Eurasia, and that Russia was open to discussions on this with all parties, including NATO.

“It is important to start from the fact that the future security architecture is open to all Eurasian countries that want to participate in its creation. By ‘all’ we mean European countries and NATO,” he pointed out.

“We live on the same continent. Whatever happens, you cannot change the geography, we have to be together and work together in one way,” the Russian president was quoted as saying by Reuters.