Putin slams West's 'hypocrisy', sets out conditions for peace talks with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (Jun 14) slammed the 'selfish' and 'arrogant' Western powers for bringing the world "unacceptably close" to the point of "no return".Putin addressed the Russian Foreign Ministry meeting as he criticised the actions of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He accused the West of undermining global strategic stability.

"So far, the West has been ignoring our interests. While they forbid Kyiv to negotiate, they hypocritically call on us to start some sort of negotiations. It just looks idiotic," Putin said during the address.

He also said that Russia would be ready for such talks "tomorrow" if Ukrainian troops withdrew from the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and also gave up its plans to join NATO.

"As soon as they declare in Kyiv that they are ready for such a decision and begin a real withdrawal of troops from these regions, and also officially announce the abandonment of their plans to join NATO - on our side, immediately, literally at the same minute, an order will follow to cease fire and begin negotiations," Putin said.

"I repeat, we will do this immediately. Naturally, we will simultaneously guarantee the unhindered and safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units and formations," he added.

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NATO's response to Putin's proposal

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg responded by slammingthe peace talks conditions, calling them a proposal for "more aggression, more occupation".

"This is not a proposal made in good faith. This is a proposal that actually means that Russia should achieve their war aims, by expecting that Ukrainians should give up significantly more land than Russia has been able to occupy so far," Stoltenberg told reporters following a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels.

Meanwhile, Ukraine rejected Putin's "conditions" to halt the full-scale military offensive which was launched by Russia in February 2022. Kyiv has been trying to corral international support at a major peace summit in Switzerland this weekend.

Both nations have not engaged in any direct peace talks since the first weeks of Russia's campaign when it was advancing on the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine has called for the full withdrawal of Russian troops from its internationally recognised territory, including the annexed Crimean peninsula, as part of any peace deal.

Notably,Russia claimed to have annexed the four regions in 2022, despite not having full control over any of them.The regional capitals of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are still in Ukrainian hands.

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(With inputs from agencies)