It's been 15 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine and the conflict could come to an end, if Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy reach an agreement.
The toll of the Russian President's 'special military operation' mounts with every day of raging warfare; just today, the deputy mayor of Mariupol said more than 1,200 bodies had been 'collected on the street' as a result of shelling, with 47 laid to rest in a mass grave.
Talks have been ongoing from the early days of the conflict, but to no avail. While the invasion has resulted in thousands of casualties, historic sanctions and renewed nuclear paranoia, Putin's demands for Ukraine are simple.
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Russia and Ukraine's tensions date back to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, after which Ukraine regained its independence and former nations under the USSR signed onto the NATO defensive alliance. However, Putin's hardline is drawn at Ukraine's membership, which he said would be a 'direct threat to the security' of the country.
Over the past eight years, Moscow's position over the West's presence in eastern Europe has been abundantly clear: NATO must deny membership to Ukraine and other ex-Soviet countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are part of the alliance).
This has been echoed by Russia over the past fortnight, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claiming Ukraine was told 'all this can be stopped in a moment' if it meets four key conditions.
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Denying there was any demand for Kyiv, Peskov earlier explained, as per The Independent: 'We really are finishing the de-militarisation of Ukraine. We will finish it. But the main thing is that Ukraine ceases its military action. They should stop their military action and then no one will shoot'.
Peskov also said Ukraine should amend their constitution to 'reject any aims to enter any bloc', and 'recognise that Crimea is Russian territory and that they need to recognise that Donetsk and Luhansk are independent states. And that’s it. It will stop in a moment.'
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The so-called separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk were formally recognised by Putin from the outset of the invasion, sparking fears the President would try to orchestrate a pretext for war - fears which quickly gave way to reality.
Ukraine initially said it wasn't willing to compromise on NATO, but while Zelenskyy appears to have made major progress on European Union membership, he's also walked back his commitment to the alliance after so much hesitance.
'Regarding NATO, I have cooled down regarding this question a long time ago, after we understood that Nato is not prepared to accept Ukraine,' he told ABC News.
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'The alliance is afraid of controversial things, and confrontation with Russia,' he added, saying he doesn't want Ukraine to be 'begging for something on its knees'.
Most importantly, Zelenskyy is open to 'discuss and compromise' on Donetsk and Luhansk, but wouldn't accept an ultimatum. 'What is important to me is how the people in those territories are going to live who want to be part of Ukraine, who in Ukraine will say that they want to have them in,' he said.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, World News, Vladimir Putin
Cameron Frew