German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that the proposals of the Russian President Vladimir Putin for Ukraine are not serious and cannot work because the country needs a "fair and just world". He expressed this position in Italy, where the G-7 meeting was held, to the TV channel ZDF.
„Everyone knows that this proposal was not made seriously, but was related to the peace conference in Switzerland,”, Scholz said. “This proposal cannot work,”, he said.
Prior to this, Putin made new peaceful proposals to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, providing for recognition of the status of Crimea, DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson region as regions of Russia, consolidation of non-aligned and nuclear-free status of Ukraine , its demilitarization and denazification, lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. This initiative was rejected in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Moscow's proposal an ultimatum, and his adviser Mikhail Podolyak believes that the new Russian initiatives allegedly do not contain a “real peace proposal”.
The German Chancellor believes that Russia should be represented at future conferences on Ukraine, the purpose of a conference is Bürgenstock - to lay the foundations for this. According to him, the goal now is to "lay the foundation" for future contacts. “And then, of course, there will be the prospect of a conference and peace talks that will also work for Ukraine. And then it will be important for Russia to take part in it,”, he said. Scholz compared the process to “a flower that needs to be watered to grow”.
Switzerland is convening a conference on Ukraine on June 15 in the Bürgenstock resort, where peace in Ukraine will be discussed, but without the participation of Russia. Bern claims that one of the goals of the conference is to “create perspectives for the future stage” in which Moscow will become a participant in the process. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that holding this event was a “road to nowhere”. The ministry noted that Moscow does not see the desire of the West to be fair, although it has never refused a peaceful settlement of the conflict with Kiev.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made new peace proposals to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The Ukrainian side rejected the initiative. Zelensky called Moscow's proposal an ultimatum, and his adviser Mikhail Podolyak believes that the new Russian initiatives allegedly do not contain a "real proposal for peace".