Vladimir Putin’s chief envoy for Ukraine, Dmitry Kozak, told the Russian leader early in the war that he had struck an interim deal with Kiev that would ensure Ukraine stays out of NATO. Even so, Putin decided to continue the war that has been going on for almost seven months. The news is from the Reuters agency, which would have received information from three people close to the Russian leadership.
Putin publicly said that the possibility of Ukraine being part of the Western military alliance posed a great threat to the country and this was one of the main pretexts for the invasion of the neighboring country.
According to the sources, despite having previously supported the negotiations, Putin made it clear that the concessions negotiated by his adviser did not go far enough and that there was a new objective: to include the annexation of swathes of Ukrainian territory.
Asked about the Reuters findings, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “This has absolutely nothing to do with reality. This has never happened. It is absolutely incorrect information.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, said Russia used the talks as a smokescreen to prepare for the invasion, but did not respond to questions about the content of the talks or confirm that a preliminary agreement had been reached. “Today, we clearly understand that the Russian side was never interested in a peaceful agreement,” Podolyak said.
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