A senior Russian official warned Ukraine on Tuesday that the longer it delayed peace negotiations, the harsher the conditions would be for its citizens. Moscow insists that any talks must involve Ukraine relinquishing land equivalent to a fifth of its territory—much of which has been occupied by Russian forces—and abandoning any hope of joining the Western-led NATO alliance, propositions that Ukraine has outright rejected.
Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia's Security Council and formerly President Vladimir Putin's defense minister, stated that since Putin's peace proposal on June 14, Ukraine has lost 420 sq km of territory and suffered significant casualties. 'The opportunity for peace is diminishing for Ukraine,' he declared on state television, noting that Ukraine has yet to respond and will lose more land the longer it postpones negotiations.
'The Kyiv regime's fantasies that the Europeans will orchestrate another grand peace conference, ... where all their internal issues will be magically resolved, are proving costly for the Ukrainian people,' Shoigu added. He provided an estimate of Ukrainian military casualties, though Reuters could not independently verify these figures, and neither party discloses its own losses.
Since deploying its troops in 2022, Russia has taken control of approximately 18% of Ukraine, including Crimea, which it annexed unilaterally in 2014. Additionally, Russia holds significant portions of four southeastern Ukrainian regions, which Putin claims Kyiv must cede entirely based on historical and cultural grounds. Reuters reports that Putin is willing to end the conflict with a negotiated ceasefire that acknowledges the current front lines, but is ready to continue fighting if Kyiv and the West do not engage.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba recently stated that Kyiv is open to dialogue provided that Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as recognized by the majority of UN member states, are fully honored.
