Russia will stop ‘in a moment’ if Ukraine meets terms-Kremlin

Russia has told Ukraine it is ready to halt military operations “in a moment” if Kyiv meets a list of conditions, the Kremlin spokesman said on Monday.   

Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said.   

It was the most explicit Russian statement so far of the terms it wants to impose on Ukraine to halt its “special military operation”, now in its 12th day.   

Peskov told Reuters in a telephone interview that Ukraine was aware of the conditions. “And they were told that all this can be stopped in a moment.”There was no immediate reaction from the Ukrainian side.   The Kremlin spokesman insisted Russia was not seeking to make any further territorial claims on Ukraine and said it was “not true” that it was demanding Kyiv be handed over.   

“We really are finishing the demilitarization of Ukraine. But the main thing is that Ukraine ceases its military action. They should stop their military action and then no one will shoot,” he said.   

The outlining of Russia’s demands came as delegations from Russia and Ukraine prepared to meet on Monday for a third round of talks aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. All the demands have been formulated and handed over during the first two rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, which took place last week Peskov said. 
LONDON, March 7 Reuters