Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the State Council in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. AFP
Asked Thursday if Russia expects Ukraine to make territorial concessions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "Moscow expects the acceptance of its demands and the understanding of the real situation that exists de-facto.''
Russia has previously demanded that Ukraine recognize the Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014 and acknowledge the independence of Russia-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.
During the talks in March, Ukrainian officials said that the status of Crimea and the separatist regions could be discussed later, but in recent weeks they have toughened their stand and said that Russian troops should pull back to areas where they were before Moscow launched a military action in Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Speaking in a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Peskov said that "Kyiv must acknowledge the de-facto situation and just have a sober assessment of it.''
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