President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the ceasefire document presented by Russia is not a memorandum but a de facto ultimatum, the requirements of which are obviously impossible to fulfil. He said this during a briefing on 4 May.
“This is not a memorandum of understanding – it is an ultimatum. It could be a memorandum if there was a dialogue between the two sides, not a dictate from one side,” Zelenskyy stressed.
According to him, the Russian side is once again putting forward territorial demands that contradict the Constitution of Ukraine, the UN Charter and any international law. In particular, the first point is the recognition of the occupied four regions as part of Russia. Zelensky called it “a demand for a reward for Putin for the war”.
The President also reminded that the neutral non-aligned status demanded by Russia from Ukraine did not stop the aggression of 2014, when Crimea and part of Donbas were occupied, despite the then non-alignment policy.
Another Russian demand – restrictions on Ukraine’s future international agreements – is, according to Zelenskyy, a gross violation of sovereignty and the 1969 Vienna Convention.
“Such documents are not prepared at a serious level. And this is again evidence that the Russian team does not have the right people for dialogue,” Zelenskyy concluded.
