Putin's "peace offer" for Ukraine rejected by Kyiv and NATO

"Ukrainian troops must be completely withdrawn from the Donetsk People's Republic, the Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. As soon as Kyiv says it is ready to do this and begins really withdrawing troops and officially renounces plans to join NATO, we will immediately — literally that very minute — cease-fire and begin talks," stated Vladimir Putin during Friday's meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded to the Russian dictator's words when asked about Putin's "proposal" during a press conference following the NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels. "This is a proposal that actually means that Russia should achieve their war aims, by expecting that Ukrainians should give up significantly more land than Russia has been able to occupy so far," he stated.

"This is a proposal of more aggression, more occupation and, and it demonstrates, in a way, that Russia's aim is to control Ukraine. And that's a blatant violation of international law and that's also the reason why NATO Allies continue to support Ukraine," he added.

NATO will play a more significant role in coordinating military aid for Ukraine. This decision was made at the NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, and Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reported it at a press conference.

"These efforts do not make NATO a party to the conflict, but they will enhance our support to Ukraine to uphold its right to self-defence," said Stoltenberg.

According to some media, this move is seen as taking over this duty from the USA to secure the aid mechanism in the event of a possible re-election of Donald Trump as President of the USA. Trump is considered a politician skeptical of NATO.