Ukraine must give up the regions annexed by Russia – Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions – if it wants to make peace, the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, has told TASS. He said the terms of the agreement stipulate “recognition of sovereignty” and Russia’s “current territorial borders.” Among other demands, he named Ukraine’s “nuclear-free and neutral status” as well as its “demilitarization and denazification.” In addition, Russia will seek “the abolition of all discriminatory laws that were adopted by Kyiv after the 2014 coup d’état,” Naryshkin added.
By February, the Russian army had seized 98.6 percent of Luhansk Oblast, 62.6 percent of Donetsk Oblast, 71.9 percent of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and 69.3 percent of Kherson Oblast. And in the latter two it does not control the capitals – Zaporizhzhia (pre-war population of about 706,000) and Kherson (275,000). The surrender of unoccupied territories in these four regions was previously demanded by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu. President Vladimir Putin also insists on this. In April, Steve Whitkoff, the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East and one of the key participants in the negotiations with Russia on Ukraine, suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump support this idea for the sake of peace. However, the latter has not yet made any decisions in this regard, Reuters sources reported.
