https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/birkenstock-warriors-saturday-june
Putin’s proposal was simple and had only two conditions: First, Ukraine would withdraw all its troops from the four disputed regions Russia already controls. President Putin did not say those areas would become Russian. Second, Ukraine must agree to stop trying to join NATO. That’s it.
If Ukraine agrees to those two conditions, Russia will suspend all military activity indefinitely, and will begin diplomatically negotiating a permanent peace.
While Putin did describe Russia’s demands for the permanent peace deal, he also said they were prepared to negotiate, which in diplomatic-speak means there is some flexibility. In other words, you can’t expect Putin to make Russia’s best offer before negotiations begin.
The bottom line is Ukrainians could stop dying right now. Putin’s demand for Ukraine to withdraw from the contested territories has precedent: in 2022, Ukraine, guided by the Americans, insisted Russia withdraw from Kiev before negotiating a cease fire, which Russia did (Ukraine just used the time to reinforce its military and break the deal).
For a counterpoint to Western reports about Putin’s comments, here is the Russian TASS story about the proposal, filed yesterday under the headline, “Russia makes another real peace proposal to Kiev —
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