Military Operations Will Stop if Ukraine Meets Terms-Kremlin

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

Dmitry Peskov said Moscow informed Ukraine of its conditions to halt what it calls its "special military operation", now in its 12th day.

Ukraine was asked to cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory, and recognise the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.

In a phone interview, Peskov told Reuters that Ukraine was aware of the conditions. "And they were told that all this can be stopped in a moment."

However, the Kremlin spokesman insisted that 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 demilitarisation 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," he said.

In previous remarks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has previously affirmed that Russian special operation in Ukraine is not the beginning of a war.

Zakharova stated that the operation is called to prevent a global confrontation and put an end to hostilities in Donbass.

“This is not a beginning of war. It prevents a global military confrontation and puts an end to the war that has been underway [in Donbass],” Zakharova said.