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BÜRGENSTOCK, Switzerland — Kyiv will not respond to ultimatums, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top adviser said on Saturday, reacting to proposals put forward by the Kremlin to resolve the war in Ukraine.
“There will be no compromise on independence or territorial integrity,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, told journalists at the Ukraine peace summit in Bürgenstock, as the Ukrainian delegation, headed by Zelenskyy, was preparing to meet with the attending countries.
“Ultimatums don’t work with Ukraine, and our people proved that on the battlefield in the past two years,” Yermak said.
His remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a new proposal on Friday for the start of peace negotiations in the conflict, which Moscow started with its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Just a day ahead of the peace conference, to which Russia was not invited, Putin articulated Russia’s demands for peace: Ukraine must give up the entire four regions that Russia occupies part of, demilitarize, and drop its aspirations to join the NATO defense alliance.
“As soon as Kyiv agrees to fully withdraw from Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia and starts this process, we are ready to start negotiations,” Putin said on Friday.
Putin also demanded that the West lift all sanctions against Russia, and that Moscow’s claims to the territories of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson be recognized internationally.
“If Kyiv and West refuse, they will take full responsibility for further bloodshed,” Putin said.
But Ukraine rejected his proposal. At the summit, Kyiv plans to talk with representatives of 92 countries and eight international organizations to work on a joint plan on how to bring Ukraine’s 10-step peace formula to life, Yermak said.
Even though Russia and China were not present, Yermak still called the summit a victory due to the wide attendance from all continents of the world, including some Russia-leaning African and Global South countries.
The first summit is focused on just three points: nuclear and food safety and the return of Ukrainian POWs and children abducted by Russia. But Ukraine plans to work through all the 10 points with partners until the next peace conference, to which Russia might be invited.
“Principles of the future of joint plan that would be based on peace formula but we are very open to all opinions of all countries, who respect international law,” Yermak said.
“When the joint plan is ready we are looking for a possibility to present it to Russia,” Yermak said. “That can happen during the second summit.”
The date of the next peace summit is not set yet.
