Putin says Ukraine must remain neutral for there to be peace

SOCHI, Russia: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Ukraine should remain neutral for there to be a chance for peace, adding that the borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the wishes of the people living in Russian-claimed territory.

"If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine the existence of any good-neighborly relations between Russia and Ukraine," Putin said.

Putin said Russia had recognised Ukraine's post-Soviet borders based on the understanding that it would be neutral. The U.S.-led NATO military alliance has repeatedly said that Ukraine would one day join.

If Ukraine was not neutral, it would be "constantly used as a tool in the wrong hands and to the detriment of the interests of the Russian Federation," Putin said.

Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine after more than two and a half years of war. Putin on June 14 set out his terms for an end to the conflict: Ukraine would have to drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from all of the territory of the regions claimed by Russia.

Ukraine rejects those conditions as tantamount to surrender and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has presented a "victory plan" for which he has requested additional Western support.

"We are determined to create conditions for a long-term settlement so that Ukraine is an independent, sovereign state, and not an instrument in the hands of third countries, and not used in their interests," Putin said.

Asked about the future borders of Ukraine, Putin said: "The borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the sovereign decisions of people who live in certain territories and which we call our historical territories."

Ukraine says that it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory though even U.S. generals say that such an aim would take massive resources that Ukraine currently does not have.