Iryna Nesterova20:30, 23.04.25

The Kremlin spokesman assured that “Russia will achieve its goals by peaceful or military means.”

If the Ukrainian army lays down its arms and withdraws from the territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, military operations “will be immediately stopped,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, in an interview with the French publication Le Point .

“There are four regions in our Constitution. The Ukrainian army must lay down its arms and withdraw. If it does so, military actions will be immediately stopped,” he said.

He also said that “Russia will achieve its goals by peaceful or military means,” and these goals have not changed since the beginning of the war. One of them, he added, is the neutral status of Ukraine.

“The security of some countries should not be achieved at the expense of the security of others. If you want to ensure the security of Ukraine and draw it into NATO, you are violating Russia’s security. Therefore, Ukraine’s neutral status is necessary,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

According to Peskov, the resignation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not part of Russia’s demands, but the legitimacy of any documents signed by him can be “legally questioned.”

“Russia has no intention of attacking the Baltic states”

At the same time, Peskov assured, Russia has no intention of attacking the Baltic countries, Finland, and Sweden, which are part of NATO.

“Russia has no problems or territorial claims to the Baltic countries, although Russians live there, their interests are constantly violated, to which Brussels does not pay the slightest attention,” Peskov noted.

As for Finland or Sweden, which have joined NATO, he stressed that Russia “is taking measures to ensure its security,” but added that there is no conflict with them in the Russian Federation. 

“Fortunately, neither in the Baltics nor in Finland are Russians being fired upon from tanks or warplanes, as has been happening in Donbas since 2014. And in the Baltics there is no civil war, where the regular army exterminates Russians simply because they are Russians,” Peskov emphasized.

“Europe is not sovereign”

He accused Europe of “wanting war, not negotiations” and of “working for the Biden administration” (Joe Biden – former US president, – ed.).

“Europe is not sovereign; it did what the Biden administration asked it to do, as if every president, every prime minister was its advisor,” Peskov said. 

Now, he says, “Washington talks about peace, while the Europeans, who are responsible for ensuring future peace on their continent, talk only about war.”

“Trump is a powerful political leader”

Peskov praised US President Donald Trump and said that he shares similarities with Russian dictator Putin. 

“Both understand the absurdity of refusing dialogue. What unites them is the desire to resolve the most difficult issues through discussion. This is exactly what the previous Biden administration lacked. Under Biden and Obama (Barack Obama, former US president, ed.), Americans also gave us lessons in democracy. But look what Trump and his family had to go through! Trump managed to come back because he is a powerful political leader, and also because his personality is very strong!”

“A meeting between Putin and Trump is being prepared”

According to Peskov, preparations are underway for the Trump-Putin meeting. He stressed that it “should be productive,” because “both Trump and Putin want results.”

When asked whether Trump might announce new sanctions against Russia if it does not sign a ceasefire by the end of April, Peskov noted that “Trump never named any date.” 

“And we don’t think setting deadlines would be appropriate. Because Putin supports a ceasefire,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

(C)UNIAN 2025