According to him, the Kremlin tried to “eliminate the root causes of the conflict through diplomacy.”
The head of the Kremlin mentioned traditional propaganda narratives about the war between the Russian Federation and the conditional West. He called the invasion of Ukraine a struggle for “historical” lands.
“If the opposing side, their foreign patrons, refuse to talk on the merits, the Russian Federation will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means,” Putin said.
Context
December 10 US President Donald Trump had a “tense” telephone conversation with the leaders of France, Germany and Great Britain, calling on them to put pressure on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to agree to the terms of the “peace plan.” Same day Ukraine handed over to the American side a framework document of a “peace plan” consisting of 20 main points, the president said. According to the NYT, Ukraine is in the US response to the “peace plan” rejected the refusal of the territories of Donbass and entry into NATO.
Negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and the United States took place in Berlin December 14th and 15th. After the first meeting, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff reported that the negotiations “Significant progress has been made.” December 15 Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, member of the Ukrainian negotiating group Rustem Umerov expressed hope that by the evening it will be possible to “reach an agreement that will bring us closer to peace.”
AFP reported that Ukraine at this meeting sought a ceasefire without territorial concessions, and, according to Reuters, Zelensky offered to abandon Ukraine's accession to NATO in exchange for security guarantees.
On the evening of December 15 in Berlin, the leaders of several European countries held a meeting on Ukraine, they were joined by Vitkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The American President had a conversation with them.
