Kremlin: Forcing Russia to make peace with Ukraine would be a “serious mistake”. the news

Russia said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plan to force peace from Moscow was a “huge mistake” with consequences for Kiev.

Zelensky told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the war between Russia and Ukraine cannot be calmed by talks alone and that Moscow must be forced to make peace.

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, “Russia wants peace, but it cannot be forced, and the position based on trying to force peace is absolutely a serious mistake because it is impossible to force Russia to peace.”

He continued, “Russia supports peace, but only on the condition that its security foundations are guaranteed.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last June that Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kiev agreed to abandon its ambitions to join NATO and fully hand over four territories claimed by Moscow.

Kiev rejected the demands outright and considered them to amount to a request to declare surrender.

Two and a half years after the start of the war, both sides seem as far as possible from reaching an agreement that would end the war.

Last month, Kiev launched a counter-offensive in western Russia’s Kursk region in the first foreign military invasion of Russian territory since World War II.

Moscow has demanded that Kiev give up areas under its control in eastern and southern Ukraine as a condition for peace.