The Kremlin: Ukraine's peace plan must include "the realities of the day"
The Kremlin announced on Wednesday its rejection of a 10-point peace plan drawn up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine must take into account what it called "the realities of the day" regarding the four Ukrainian regions announced by Russia.
"There can be no peace plan in Ukraine that does not take into account today's realities regarding the Russian territories with four regions joining Russia. And plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia announced the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia in September after referendums that were condemned by Ukraine and Western countries.
Zelensky has been promoting the peace plan, which he first announced in November, as he discussed it with US President Joe Biden and others and urged world leaders to convene a global peace summit based on that plan.
The plan calls for the withdrawal of Russian forces from internationally recognized Ukrainian lands, which means Russia's abandonment of the four regions that it announced its annexation along with Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.
The Kremlin has said repeatedly that it is ready to enter into peace talks with Ukraine, but it does not see any willingness to negotiate on the part of Kyiv.
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