Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily press conference that “the Ukrainian side must realize the facts that took place in the field.”
He explained that “these facts show that the Russian Federation owns new lands,” pointing to the “impossibility of any diplomatic progress” as long as Kiev “does not take these facts into account.”
At the end of September, Russia announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, in addition to Crimea, which it had already annexed in 2014, without extending its full control over it, in a decision widely rejected by the international community.
Ukraine, for its part, demands that Russia withdraw its forces and return all the territories it occupies.
Peskov indicated that Russia’s withdrawal of its forces from Ukraine before Christmas is “out of the question,” in response to another request made by Zelensky on Monday during a video address to the Group of Seven.
On Monday, the Ukrainian president renewed his 10-point peace plan, which he presented in mid-November, and deals with restoring territorial integrity, the fate of prisoners and food security.
The Ukrainian army has been pushing back the Russian forces for several months. To confront him, Moscow announced the mobilization of 300 thousand reservists to strengthen its ranks.
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