VLADIVOSTOK. June 18 (Interfax) - There are no forces in the Ukrainian parliament ready to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposals for settling the Ukraine conflict, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said.
"As far as I know, if you are asking about the information I have, there are no such sober-minded forces in the Verkhovna Rada. It's not because everyone there is absolutely stupid. It is because everything they do follows the scenario approved overseas, approved by Washington," Medvedev told reporters in Vladivostok on Tuesday.
Every subsequent proposal Russia makes to the incumbent Ukrainian authorities will be worse than the previous one, he said.
"Thus, they have an opportunity to accept the proposal formulated by Vladimir Putin, and at least try to make peace by ending this part of the conflict," Medvedev said.
"If they don't, events are likely to follow the scenario that is being talked about. That is, our offensive will continue and it will be hard to tell where the border of the security belt our president has talked about will be. Quite likely, it will not be in favor of the current Ukrainian authorities. So, they should hurry and take the opportunity as long as it exists," he said.
On June 14, Putin said at a meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry's leadership that Russia was ready to end the hostilities and begin negotiations as soon as Ukraine announces the withdrawal of its forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions and pledges not to join NATO. Russia demands a neutral, non-aligned, and non-nuclear status for Ukraine, as well as its demilitarization and denazification, Putin said. He added that all anti-Russian sanctions must be lifted. Putin added that the reality on the ground would continue to change, and not in Kiev's favor, and the terms for starting negotiations would be different.