Kiev could have stopped the conflict in April 2022 by recognizing the independence of two Donbass republics and Crimea as Russian territory, the head of Moscow’s negotiating team, Vladimir Medinsky, said on Tuesday.
The former culture minister led the Russian delegation at the Istanbul talks, where he said Ukraine “missed the opportunity” to end the war and save “hundreds of thousands of lives” of its soldiers.
“Among our non-negotiable demands were the recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the recognition of the independence of the Donbass republics,” Medinsky told Russian news agencies. He added that Moscow also had “a long list of humanitarian demands” pertaining to the “protection of the Russian-speaking population of Donbass.”
He insisted that “Russia never set itself the goal of conquering Ukraine,” and that the chief objective of its military operation was the protection of Russian-speaking civilians. Advised by the West, however,…
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