Putin pledges a cease-fire in Ukraine if Kyiv withdraws from occupied regions and drops NATO bid
Moscow, Jun 14: Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and begin negotiations if Kyiv started withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO.
Such a deal appears a nonstarter for Kyiv, which wants to join the military alliance and has demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from all of its territory. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on Putin's proposal.
“We will do it immediately,” Putin said in a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.
His remarks came as leaders of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations met in Italy and as Switzerland prepared to host scores of world leaders -- but not from Moscow -- this weekend to try to map out first steps toward peace in Ukraine.
Putin said his proposal is aimed at a “final resolution” of the conflict in Ukraine rather than “freezing it," and stressed that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay.”
Broader demands for peace that the Russian leader listed included Ukraine's non-nuclear status, restrictions on its military force and protecting the interests of the Russian-speaking population in the country. All of these should become part of “fundamental international agreements,” and all Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted, Putin said.
“We're urging to turn this tragic page of history and to begin restoring, step-by-step, restore the unity between Russia and Ukraine and in Europe in general,” he said.
Putin's remarks represented a rare occasion in which he clearly laid out his conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, but it didn't include any new demands. The Kremlin has said before that Kyiv should recognise its territorial gains and drop its bid to join NATO.
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Hyderabad woman commits suicide after allegedly getting injected with HIV-infected blood by relative
Hyderabad: A 22-year-old woman committed suicide in Hyderabad about a month after a relative allegedly injected her with HIV-infected blood after she rejected a marriage proposal, police said.
The woman is identified as Ramani. She was found dead at her grandmother's home in Annojiguda on Friday morning, according to The News Minute.
According to police, the accused, a 24-year-old man related to the victim, had been in a relationship with her. Initially their families had agreed to their marriage but the proposal was later withdrawn after medical tests confirmed that the man was HIV positive.
According to investigators, the accused allegedly injected his own blood into the woman at her home on March 11, after his marriage proposal was refused. Police said he obtained a syringe and committed the act when she was alone, allegedly with the intent of forcing her into marriage.
The incident was discovered when the woman told her relatives and was sent to a medical checkup. The accused was detained in March and put in judicial prison on allegations including attempted murder.
Police said a suicide note was recovered from the scene in which the woman mentioned being distressed by the manner in which the incident was discussed on social media. Family members stated that she had been undergoing emotional distress and had developed health complications following the assault.
