Moscow | The Kremlin ruled on Tuesday that its offensive in Ukraine would end when the Ukrainian authorities and army surrendered.
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The Ukrainian side can end (the conflict) within a day. National units must be ordered to lay down their arms, Ukrainian soldiers must be ordered to lay down their arms and all conditions set by Russia must be fulfilled. “After that, in one day everything will be over,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.
According to him, no deadline or timetable was set by the Russian side: “We are orienting ourselves in relation to the statements of our president.”
Mr. Peskov reiterated that “the special military operation was going according to plan,” using a euphemism in Russia to talk about the attack on Ukraine.
He was responding to comments attributed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the heads of state and government of the Group of Seven, calling on them to “do their utmost” to end the conflict engulfing his country before the end of the year.
Russia launched a massive military attack on Ukraine on February 24 in order to “disarm” and “discredit” its neighbor, accusing it of genocide of the Russian-speaking population.
The fierce resistance of Ukrainian forces prompted Russia to review its ambitions and focus on the east of the country. The fighting there is deadly and the Russian advance is slow.
Peace talks have been stalled for weeks, with each side blaming the other.
