Russian President Vladimir Putin’s peace proposal in Ukraine amounts to “propaganda,” attendees at a weekend peace summit in Switzerland say. Photo by Valeriy Sharifulin/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/Pool/EPA-EFE
June 15 (UPI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he’ll agree to a cease-fire if Ukraine withdraws from four territories partly occupied by Russia.
Leaders of other nations called Putin’s peace offer “propaganda” during a two-day peace summit underway in Switzerland this weekend.
Putin’s peace offer is pure propaganda that essentially requires Ukraine to “withdraw from Ukraine,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday.
“It looks more like a propaganda move than a real one,” Meloni said. “Putin’s proposal is in the style of ‘we are ready for peace talks if Ukraine recognizes the invasion and surrenders its occupied territories.'”
She said Putin’s proposal doesn’t look “particularly effective.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s chief of staff Andriy Yermak told the BBC his nation won’t “compromise on independence, sovereignty or territorial integrity.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Putin’s proposal a “dictatorial peace” offer, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Putin is “spinning a phony narrative about his willingness to negotiate.”
“Freezing the conflict today with foreign troops occupying Ukrainian land is not an answer,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the BBC.
“In fact, it is a recipe for future wars of aggression,” she added.
Representatives from more than 90 nations and global entities are attending the peace conference.
Russia wasn’t invited and officials from Russia’s ally China chose not to attend.