Putin Outlines Conditions for Ukraine Ceasefire Ahead of Swiss Summit
Moscow’s Demands Met with Immediate Rejection
by Claire Peters 2 June 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented a set of stringent conditions for an immediate ceasefire and the commencement of peace negotiations with Ukraine, an announcement made just as an international peace summit, from which Russia is excluded, prepares to convene in Switzerland. Moscow’s core demands include the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, areas that Russia claims to have annexed. Furthermore, Russia insists that Ukraine must formally renounce its ambition to join NATO, maintaining a non-bloc status. Additional prerequisites outlined by Moscow encompass Ukraine’s denuclearization, demilitarization, and de-Nazification, with the Kremlin asserting that these conditions are non-negotiable for any future peace settlement.
The proposal was met with swift and unequivocal rejection from Kyiv. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, dismissed the offer as “absurd” and a “manipulative statement.” President Volodymyr Zelensky himself drew a stark comparison, likening Putin’s ultimatum to those issued by Adolf Hitler, suggesting a lack of sincerity in the Russian overture. Western allies echoed Ukraine’s stance, with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stating that Putin “is not in a position to tell Ukraine what it must do to bring about peace.” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg similarly indicated that the proposal was not genuine, asserting that it was not a serious offer of peace.
Putin’s announcement comes ahead of the Swiss-hosted peace conference, scheduled to begin in Burgenstock without Russia’s participation. The Russian president criticized the summit as a tactic designed to divert attention from the actual underlying causes of the conflict. Beyond the immediate ceasefire conditions, Russia also seeks formal international recognition of Crimea as Russian territory and the lifting of all Western sanctions imposed on Moscow. International observers largely perceive the timing and nature of Putin’s demands as an effort to undermine the legitimacy and potential outcomes of the impending peace summit in Switzerland.
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