Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to “immediately” order a ceasefire in Ukraine and begin negotiations if Kyiv started withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join Nato.
Putin’s remarks came as Switzerland prepared to host scores of world heads of state – but not from Moscow – this weekend to try to map out first steps toward peace in Ukraine.They also coincided with a meeting of G7 nations in Italy and after the US and Ukraine this week signed a 10-year security agreement that Russian officials, including Putin, denounced as “null and void”. Putin blasted the Switzerland conference as “just another ploy to divert everyone’s attention. He also denounced the freezing of Russian assets as “theft” and vowed it “will not go unpunished.”