In Russia, the highest political level has proposed to discuss the "rights to Ukrainian lands" with several European countries, Russian and Ukrainian media report.
The chairman of the Russian Historical Society and director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin has invited experts and historians from other countries to discuss the issue of "rights to Ukrainian lands", TASS quoted him as saying.
“You know, this is such a serious issue that has a very deep background”, said Naryshkin, answering a question about whether it is possible in the future for the territory of Ukraine to be divided between different countries. "We will try to invite historians from other countries, from Poland, from Hungary, from Slovakia," he added. Earlier, the aide to the Russian president, Nikolai Patrushev, said that Ukraine would cease to exist as a state in 2025.
It will soon be three years since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin violated international law and treaties by attacking Ukraine, arguing that in this way the Russian Federation was defending itself. The political leaders of Hungary and Slovakia, in the person of Viktor Orban and Robert Fico, are among the few Western politicians who openly support Russian aggression and even claim that Ukraine is to blame for the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Volodymyr Zelensky "is not the legitimate president of Ukraine". Putin said that peace talks with Ukraine are possible, but without the participation of his Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky, and that he sees no desire on the part of Kiev for such talks. Zelensky responded that Putin's statements about consultations to end the nearly three-year-old war show that he is afraid of negotiations and that he wants the war to become endless.
There are major differences between Moscow and Kiev over the future peace agreement that would end the war. Russia wants a complete surrender of Ukraine, which means that it gives up its territories, forgets forever about NATO membership, and drastically reduces the size of its armed forces. Zelensky said that Ukraine will never recognize the territories occupied by the Russian army as part of the Russian Federation. Kiev also points out that NATO membership is the only strong guarantee against a new Russian attack in years.
In 2021, Vladimir Putin published an article in which he denied the existence of Ukraine as a nation and culture. He called Ukrainians and Russians "one people," echoing the statements of Soviet leaders. But this was not a declaration of unity, but a direct threat: either Ukrainians recognize themselves as Russians or face annihilation.