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As the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine reaches its 12th day, there is a ray of hope that this brutal war may soon be coming to end if the two countries reach agreements this week.
Earlier today, Ukraine President Zelensky made a statement that could have prevented this unnecessary war. In an interview with ABC News, Zelensky said: “I have cooled down on NATO. NATO is not prepared to accept Ukraine.”
Why does Zelensky’s statement matter? As you may recall, the primary reason Russia went to war was because of NATO’s expansion into the former Soviet Republics. Just a few days before the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony, President Putin hinted at the possibility of a war with Ukraine.
In a rare in-person meeting, the two leaders called on the U.S. and the US-led NATO military alliance to stop further expansion in eastern Europe. China and Russia “oppose the further expansion” of the U.S-led alliance, calling on the organization to “abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War era,” a statement released by Kremlin reads. Since World War 2, NATO has been expanding into eastern Europe.
Fast forward to today, Russian President Putin offers four conditions for peace to end the war with Ukraine. In an interview on Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia will halt military action if Kyiv meets four conditions.
Peskov added that Moscow could “end the war immediately” if Ukraine agreed to sign a neutrality agreement that would bar it from entering NATO, recognized Crimea as Russian, recognized the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent, and ceased all military action, according to a report The Kyiv Independent, an independent English-language news outlet in Ukraine posted on Twitter.
“Russia claims it will stop the war immediately if Ukraine agrees to:
– cease military action
– change constitution to enshrine neutrality
– recognize Crimea as Russian territory
– recognize the Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states,” The Kyiv Independent said in a tweet.
