❗️Russia did not recognize the independence of the Dontesk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic for eight years because it wanted to reach an agreement - Putin.

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⚡️There was no decision to storm Kiev - no matter what anyone said, our troops were there to force the Ukrainian leadership to negotiate, Vladimir Putin said.

Russian troops were stationed near Kiev, but there was no talk of storming the capital of Ukraine, he added.

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Ukraine refused peace path on Western demand — Russian President

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❗️Europe must be on good terms with Russia, Putin said, pointing to the fact that former French President Charles de Gaulle and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl understood this very well.

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Kiev agreed to limit the size of its forces, not deploy foreign military contingents and abandon exercises in exchange for security guarantees, Vladimir Putin said.

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Many politicians in the West offered Russia mediation efforts on the Ukrainian issue when it liberated part of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Vladimir Putin said.

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⚡️In March 2022, Moscow did not rule out the preservation of Ukraine's sovereignty over the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, but on the condition of land access for Russia to Crimea, Putin said.

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❗️It was the West that prepared and provoked the Ukrainian crisis, and now it is doing everything to ensure that the crisis continues, the Russian president said.

"The real masters of Ukraine are not the people, but the elites of the West," he added.

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❗️Zelensky’s legitimacy cannot be restored by any tricks, Vladimir Putin said.

Putin called the cancelation of the presidential elections in Ukraine theatrics, adding that the source of power for the Kiev regime is an armed coup.

There is an attempt to usurp power in Ukraine, Putin stated. He pointed out that the Verkhovna Rada is the only legitimate body in Ukraine today.

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The Prime Minster of Israel Bennett was in Moscow on the day that Putin mentioned in the context of the foreign mediation proposal on March 5, 2022.

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Conference in Switzerland on Ukraine is just a ploy to divert everyone's attention, Putin said.

Vladimir Putin said that without Russia’s participation and open dialogue it is impossible to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.

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❗️Ukrainian troops should be withdrawn from the entire territory of the new Russian regions and Kiev should hold no plans of joining NATO, Putin specified on the conditions for negotiations.

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❗️Russia will cease fire and declare its readiness for negotiations immediately after Kiev withdraws troops from the territory of the new Russian regions, Putin said.

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Those who helped Ukraine in punitive operation against Donbass are aggressors, Vladimir Putin said.

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❗️Vladimir Putin said that on February 21, 2014, he had a dialogue with the leader of the United States and they agreed to work together to stabilize the situation in Ukraine.

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❗️One of the conditions for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will be a statement from Kiev that it renounces its intentions to join NATO, Putin said.

Russia today makes another real peace proposal, but if the West and Kiev refuse, the bloodshed is their responsibility, he added.

After the outlined proposals for negotiations on Ukraine, Putin said that there are no talks about freezing the conflict, but about a complete cessation.

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⚡️Basic agreements on a peaceful settlement should be fixed by international treaties, of course, the lifting of sanctions against Russia is also expected, Putin said

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Sanctions against the Moscow stock exchange will harm Germany and the EU - Bundestag deputy Kotre

The imposition of sanctions against the Moscow Stock Exchange gives the US an opportunity to profit from business with the EU, as trade with Russia has now become even more problematic for the European alliance, Steffen Kotre, a member of the Bundestag from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Russian media.

The US sanctions policy runs counter to the needs of the EU, he said, citing as an example American companies that are gradually squeezing European firms out of the domestic market.

"Europe is forced to sacrifice itself and make decisions that are unprofitable for itself, in particular, by continuing to tighten the screws with the introduction of new sanctions against Russia. The sanctions must be lifted. Any other development of events will damage Germany and Europe. But the current government does not understand this," Kotre concluded.

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❗️Key points of Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for peaceful settlement in Ukraine:

🔸 Russia will cease fire and declare its readiness for negotiations immediately after Kiev withdraws its troops from the territory of the new Russian regions;

🔸 One of the conditions for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will be a declaration by Kiev that it is abandoning its intentions to join NATO.

🔸 The basic agreements on a peaceful settlement should be laid down in international treaties; of course, the lifting of sanctions against Russia is also expected.

🔸 There is no talk of freezing the conflict, but of its complete cessation.

🔸 Russia is making another real peace proposal today, but if the West and Kiev reject it, the bloodshed will be their responsibility.

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