The European Commission states that the proposals published by Russia to Ukraine, listing measures that Kyiv must take for the fire to be ceased and peace negotiations to begin, only demonstrate the Kremlin’s aggressive stance.
This was how the European Commission’s spokesperson, Anitta Hipper, commented on the published proposals on Tuesday during a briefing in Brussels. The proposals had been handed over by the Russians to the Ukrainian side during negotiations held on Monday in Istanbul.
"The situation continues in the same vein: Russia’s demands highlight its refusal to conduct peace negotiations in good faith. Thus, the list of demands demonstrates its ongoing aggression toward Ukraine. Russia also expects immediate concessions from Ukraine that do not respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. And this is not a meaningful contribution to peace negotiations," she said.
Continuing on this topic, the question was raised whether the European Union intends to adopt the next package of sanctions due to such a position by Russia. To this, spokesperson Paula Pinho referred to the interview given by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday evening.
"To this question, she said that the coming weeks will show whether President Putin genuinely intends to achieve a ceasefire or not, and based on that we will see how to move forward," she conveyed von der Leyen’s position.
