Peskov: Russian invasion will stop 'in a moment' if Ukraine meets demands

Moscow announced on Monday it will end its invasion of Ukraine “in a moment” if Kyiv agrees to cease military action, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory and recognize the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states.

In a conversation with Reuters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the ultimatum had been passed along to Ukrainian government officials.

“They were told that all this can be stopped in a moment,” he said.

“We really are finishing the demilitarization of Ukraine. We will finish it. But the main thing is that Ukraine ceases its military action. They should stop their military action and then no one will shoot.”

Peskov’s demands were made on the 12th day of Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, which led to heavy sanctions on Moscow after reports showed that Russian forces were targeting civilian targets across cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol, the New York Post reported.

The spokesman, however, did not clarify if Russian troops would withdraw from Ukraine if the Kremlin’s demands were met – instead focusing on the prospect of a ceasefire. He did claim, however, that Russia was not trying to make any further territorial claims on Ukraine and insisted it was “not true” that the Kremlin was demanding that the Ukrainian capital be surrendered.

Peskov also pushed the issue of Ukrainian neutrality and said, “They should make amendments to the constitution according to which Ukraine would reject any aims to enter any bloc.”

“We have also spoken about how they should recognize that Crimea is Russian territory and that they need to recognize that Donetsk and Lugansk are independent states. And that’s it. It will stop in a moment.”