Putin agrees to stop war on terms, claims no plans to capture Kharkiv

Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to stop the Ukraine war. However, for this he has set some conditions.

News agency Reuters, quoting Russian sources, claimed that Putin wants the border between the two countries to remain as per the existing rules. This means that the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russia are now part of it.

Reports that Putin is ready to call off the war have been swirling for months, but the report comes as Moscow has launched a new offensive against the Kharkiv region in north-eastern Ukraine.

“If there is an agreement on the existing border line, the Russians will consider it a victory. “They can say that they have retained their sovereignty despite the attacks from the West,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters.

He has repeatedly quoted Putin as saying he is ready for talks and does not want a protracted war. Ukrainian President Zelensky, however, does not want to accept any peace deal on Putin’s terms. He has promised to take back the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army. This includes Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

Earlier this month, Russia stepped up fighting in Kharkiv. On May 10, Russian troops entered Kharkiv one kilometer. Kharkiv is important to the Russian military because they suffered a defeat there in 2022.

After the defeat in Kharkiv in 2022, Russia has planned to conquer Kharkiv at any cost. However, President Vladimir Putin claimed during his visit to China some time ago that Russia is not planning to take over Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine.

Two years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Putin called it a military operation at the time.

Due to this attack, more than 4 million Ukrainian citizens had to leave the country. These people are now living as refugees in other countries. More than 6.5 million Ukrainians have become homeless at home.

10 thousand citizens of Ukraine have died and 18 thousand 500 have been injured. Ukraine claims that Russia has lost 3.92 million soldiers. Meanwhile, the US has imposed sanctions on 500 Russian companies. Here, Russia also imposed restrictions on many companies of the European Union (EU).