Putin's African Proposal: A Potential Basis for Peace in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that an African proposal could serve as a basis for peace in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The proposal suggests various steps to defuse the situation, including a Russian troop pullback and the removal of Russian tactical nuclear weapons from Belarus. However, Putin claimed that attacks from Kyiv have made a ceasefire "virtually impossible." The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has rejected the idea of a ceasefire, insisting that peace talks require Russia to withdraw its forces from occupied Ukrainian territory. Putin also downplayed his absence from an economic summit in South Africa, where an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him has been issued.