Putin lists demands for ending war during call with Turkish president

• As the war on Ukraine enters its fourth week, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly listed several demands in exchange for ending his invasion.
• Putin reportedly told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that the demands include a promise that Ukraine will remain neutral and not join NATO.
• Officials suspect that Putin will also call for Ukraine to give up Crimea and eastern territories.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly listed several demands in exchange for ending his war on Ukraine during a Thursday call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The demands include a promise that Ukraine will remain neutral and not join NATO, according to a BBC report that cited a Turkish official who listened to the call.

Ibrahim Kalin, leading adviser and spokesman of Erdogan, said that the other demands included Ukraine undergoing a disarmament process to mitigate future threats to Russia, legal protections for the Russian language in Ukraine, promises related to Putin’s “Denazification” claims, and other conditions involving eastern territories that broke away from Ukraine.

Officials suspect that Putin will call for Ukraine to give up eastern territories and formally recognize that Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, is a part of Russia.

The recently reported demands seem similar to previous reports of six major conditions that Putin listed in exchange for ending his invasion.

Putin also reportedly called for face-to-face negotiations with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss his demands. Zelenskyy has previously declared that he is open to negotiation.

Putin’s demands come as his invasion is entering its fourth week, with several reports of stalled military advance and sagging morale among the troops. 

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby confirmed that there were some “anecdotal indications” that morale is “not high in some units.” 

Kirby stated, “Some of that is, we believe, a function of poor leadership, lack of information that the troops are getting about their mission and objectives, and I think disillusionment from being resisted as fiercely as they have been.”

Kirby said they have confidence in these reports, but emphasized that these are “anecdotal accounts” and may not apply to the entire Russian force in Ukraine.

Over the past week, a significant slowdown has been seen in Russian advance toward the capital. Russian artillery has not moved “any closer” to Kyiv, but officials suspect that forces are aiming for a siege.

Source: FOX News