The Kremlin ruled out on Tuesday the withdrawal of Russian troops this yearwith which he responded to a proposal by the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, who called on Russia the day before to do it for Christmas.
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“You can’t even talk about that,” said the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, at his daily press conference. Zelensky said yesterday that Christmas and the New Year is a time for “peace and not aggression.”
New Year is a time of peace and not of aggression
“I propose that Russia at least try to show that it is capable of repelling aggression”he said in a telematic message to the G7 leaders.
According to Zelensky, “it would be right if this Christmas began with the withdrawal of Russian troops of the territory internationally recognized as Ukraine”.
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The president assured that with this step Moscow “will guarantee the reliable cessation of hostilities.” Meanwhile, according to the Kremlin, kyiv first has to “accept reality” on the ground.
“These are the realities that have occurred because of the line, the policy that has been followed for the last fifteen or even twenty years by the leadership of Ukraine and the current Ukrainian regime,” Peskov said.
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He added that “these realities speak of the fact that the Russian Federation has new subjects as a result of the referendums that were held in the territories” of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, annexed last September.
“Without taking these new realities into account, any progress is impossible”, settled the representative of the Russian Presidency.
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Peskov also commented on the “three steps” proposed by Zelensky to achieve peace in Ukraine, which provide for further arms deliveries to Kiev, the preservation of economic and financial aid, and the use of diplomacy for the liberation of Ukrainian territories. “There are three steps to continue military actions,” he said.
EFE
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