With Russia and Ukraine set to have a fourth round of peace talks, Putin has outlined a list of key demands. The chances that Ukraine will agree to these demands are low.
Russia is demanding that Ukraine change its constitution to state that it will never join any international alliance like NATO. This demand is key to addressing Russia’s long stated concerns about NATO’s expansion into former Soviet states.
Russia is demanding that Ukraine recognize Crimea as a part of the Russian Federation. Following a referendum held in the once Ukraine province, Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 following a referendum. Ukraine has refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, calling it “temporally occupied”.
Russia is demanding that Ukraine recognize the breakaway provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. Russia is also demanding an immediate end to all military activities by Ukraine. For eight years, Ukraine has been engaged in a civil war against the two breakaway provinces.
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