By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A senior Russian official told Ukraine on Tuesday that the longer the country waits to enter peace talks, the tougher the terms will be for its people.
Moscow said negotiations should be based on ceding land equivalent to a fifth of its territory to Ukraine – much of it confiscated by Russian forces – and renouncing any prospect of membership in the Western-led NATO alliance, terms that Ukraine rejected immediately.
Sergei Shoigusecretary of the Russian Security Council and until recently President Vladimir PutinIraq’s defense minister said that since Putin proposed peace terms on June 14, Ukraine has lost 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) of territory and a lot of blood.
“The window of opportunity for Ukraine is shrinking,” he told state television, adding that Ukraine had not responded and would lose more territory the longer it took.
“The Kiev regime’s illusions that the Europeans will organize another beautiful peace summit, … at which all their internal problems will be resolved by themselves, are costing the people of Ukraine dearly,” Shoigu said.
He provided a number for Ukrainian troop losses, but Reuters could not verify those numbers and neither side listed its own casualties.
After sending its troops in 2022, Russia now controls around 18% of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it seized and unilaterally annexed in 2014.
It also holds areas of four regions in southeastern Ukraine that Putin, citing historical and cultural justification, says Kiev must cede in its entirety.
Reuters reported that Putin is ready to stop the war with a negotiated ceasefire that recognizes the current battlefield lines, but is prepared to continue fighting if Kiev and the West do not respond.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said last month that Kiev was prepared for negotiations as long as Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, recognized by the vast majority of UN member states, were fully respected.
(Edited by Kevin Liffey)
