MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Wednesday dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan, saying that proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine must take into account what it calls “today’s realities” of four Ukrainian regions having joined Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “There can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today’s realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia. Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful.”
Russia declared Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions as part of its territory in September after referendums condemned by Ukraine and Western countries. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions.
President Zelenskiy has been promoting his 10-point peace plan, which he first announced in November, discussing it with U.S. President Joe Biden among others, and urging world leaders to hold a Global Peace Summit based on it.
The plan envisions the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s internationally-recognised territory, which would mean Russia giving up both the four regions it claims to haveannexed, and Crimea, which it seized in 2014.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said it is open to peace talks with Ukraine, but sees no willingness to negotiate on the part of Kyiv.
Besides, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, an arch loyalist of Vladimir Putin given a new job this week, predicted war between Germany and France next year and a civil war in the United States that would lead to Elon Musk becoming president.
Medvedev, deputy head of Putin’s advisory security council, served as president during a four-year spell when Putin held the office of prime minister.
He appears to have seen his fortune rise in the Kremlin, which said on Monday he would now serve as Putin’s deputy on a body overseeing the military industry.
In his list of predictions for 2023, published on his personal Telegram and Twitter accounts, he also foresaw Britain rejoining the EU, which would in turn collapse. –Agencies
