The Kremlin said on Wednesday that peace proposals to end the war in Ukraine must take into account the “new reality” of Moscow’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions claimed by Russia, Reuters reported.

This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov during the daily press conference.

Peskov emphasized that without Kyiv accepting this condition, the situation will not be resolved, and added that there is currently no draft “peace plan” that would be offered to Ukraine.

“There cannot be a peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today’s realities regarding Russian territory, with the inclusion of 4 oblasts in Russia. Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful,” Dmytro Peskov said on Wednesday.

The press secretary of President Vladimir Putin also stated on December 13 that Ukraine must accept “new realities” related to Russia’s annexation of its territories.

“These are the realities that have developed because of the line, the policy that has been carried out during the last 15, even 20 years by the leadership of Ukraine and the current Ukrainian regime,” he said.

His comments at the time came after the day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented three steps that Kyiv considers necessary to ensure peace. One of them was aimed at withdrawing Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.

In a comment, Peskov rejected this proposal.

Ukraine demands that Russia withdraw its troops from its territory

Dmytro Peskov’s comments on Wednesday came after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Monday that his government intends to hold a peace summit by the end of February, preferably at the United Nations, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as a possible mediator.

“The UN might be the best place to hold this summit because it’s not about doing a favor to any particular country,” he said.

Kuleba said this after Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated last Thursday that “just peace” means the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“For me, as the president, a just peace does not mean any compromise regarding the sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity of my country,” the Ukrainian president said at the White House during a press conference he held with US President Joe Biden during his historic visit to Washington.

Zelensky presented Biden with a 10-point peace plan, which he also discussed with other world leaders, which includes, among other things, the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the withdrawal of Russian troops and an end to hostilities.

Russia says it wants peace, but does not want to give up Ukrainian territories

On Sunday, the first day of Christmas, Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to negotiate with all participants in the conflict in Ukraine to find “acceptable solutions”.

“I believe that we are acting in the right direction, we are defending our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people. And we have no other choice but to protect our citizens,” the Kremlin leader said in an interview broadcast by state television from Moscow.

“We are ready to negotiate with all interested parties to find acceptable solutions, but it depends on them – we are not refusing negotiations, but they,” Putin said.

But Peskov’s comments on Wednesday show that withdrawing its troops from Ukrainian territories is not among the “decisions” the Kremlin can make.

Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions on September 30, shortly after holding pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories.

Russian armed forces still do not control the entire territory of these Ukrainian regions and have withdrawn from some areas for almost 3 months after Putin’s announcement.

Previous peace talks between Kiev and Moscow broke down in March after Russia rejected a ceasefire and troop withdrawal, despite Ukraine saying it was ready to abandon its aspirations to join NATO and accept neutral status.

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