Russia says it will not be forced into making peace with Ukraine

dpa
(TNS)

MOSCOW — The Kremlin has sharply criticized the appearance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the U.N. Security Council.

Zelenskyy said in his speech on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not voluntarily end the war he had ordered against Ukraine, and would have to be forced to do so by the international community.

“The position, which is based on the attempt to force Russia to make peace, is an absolutely fatal mistake,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Russia, he claimed, is a supporter of peace, but only on condition that its security is guaranteed. In addition, the objectives for which the military operation in Ukraine was launched must be achieved, he said.

Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede territory, renounce joining NATO and carry out a so-called denazification, by which the Kremlin probably means the establishment of a government dependent on Moscow.

Zelenskyy recently indicated that an end to the war by the end of the year was possible. To achieve this, a second peace conference should be launched in the autumn, in which Kiev would like Russia to participate this time. However, Moscow has already ruled out participating in such a conference.

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