Putin: Ceasefire 'Impossible' Until Peace Talks With Ukraine Begin
© Sputnik / Stanislav Krasilnikov
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Following the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Russian President Vladimir Putin held a press conference, where he touched upon the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
"We cannot allow this ceasefire to be used by the enemy to improve its position... We need to ensure that the opposite side takes steps that are inevitable for the Russian Federation, so a ceasefire is impossible without such an agreement," Putin told reporters.
The president also emphasized that Russia has never refused to negotiate with Ukraine.
"We have always been in favor of negotiations, as you well know, we have never given up on them. The only question is that it seems unlikely to me that the final end to the conflict will be achieved through mediation alone," he noted.
❗️A ceasefire in Ukraine is impossible before the start of peace negotiations, Putin said.
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) July 4, 2024
Russia cannot declare a ceasefire in the hope of positive steps from the other side, he emphasized.
Ending the conflict with Ukraine through mediators is impossible, Putin believes, but… pic.twitter.com/Ff7x642A5u
Putin elaborated that it is impossible due to the fact that such a mediator is unlikely to have the authority to sign the final document.
Earlier in the day, the leaders and representatives of the SCO member states signed the final Astana Declaration and several other documents at the meeting in Kazakhstan. On the second day of the summit, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that Belarus had been officially accepted as a member of the SCO.
