Kremlin says any peace plan with Ukraine must include Donetsk as part of Russia

The Kremlin rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s 10-point peace plan on Wednesday, saying proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine must take into account what it calls “current realities” of the four Ukrainian regions that have joined Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “there can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account the current realities in relation to Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia. Plans that do not take into account these realities cannot be peaceful”.

Russia declared in September that the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Jerson and Zaporiyia they were part of its territory, after the holding of referendums condemned by Ukraine and Western countries. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions.

Zelensky has been promoting his 10-point peace plan, which he first announced in November, discussing it with US President Joe Biden and others, and urging world leaders to hold a World Peace Summit based on the.

The plan calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, which would mean Russia would give up both the four regions it claims to have annexed and Crimea, which it seized in 2014.

The Kremlin has repeated on several occasions that it is open to peace talks with Ukraine, but sees no willingness to negotiate on kyiv’s part.