Russian liberal leader Grigory Yavlinsky met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and asked him to accept a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.
“The main topic of the conversation was the need to agree on a ceasefire in the special military operation”Yabloko, the only legal party in Russia’s opposition camp, said in a statement.
Yavlinsky, born in Ukraine, thinks so “it is necessary to begin negotiations on the cessation of hostilities as soon as possible and is ready to participate personally in them”.
Known for his pacifist positions since the first Chechen war (1994-96), Yabloko never recognized the annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014, and the same happened with the annexation, in September 2022, of four other Ukrainian regions (Donetsk) . , Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporiyia).
“For Peace and Freedom” was the motto under which the liberal formation participated in the September municipal elections, refusing to campaign in the annexed regions.
Putin has stated for months that he is willing to negotiate with Kiev, but only if the country accepts his terms and the reality on the ground, namely the occupation of part of Ukrainian territory.
The Russian head of state also accuses his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymir Zelensky, of favoring a long war and signed a decree banning negotiations with the enemy.
Although Russia acknowledges only 5,937 casualties in the ranks of its military, Western intelligence estimates the number of Russian fighters killed in the neighboring country at tens of thousands.
Despite the annexation of four regions, Russia controls only almost all of Luhansk, while Ukrainian forces control vast areas in Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporiyia, where they have regained ground since the start of the counter-offensive on June 4.
Yabloko, on the other hand, denied that Yavlinsky had discussed with Putin the March 2024 presidential elections, in which the Kremlin leader will most likely seek re-election.
In light of the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yavlinsky is the opposition candidate most likely to be registered by the Central Election Commission. However, in order to stand as a candidate, his party today insisted he must obtain “at least 10 million signatures in support of his candidacy” from the Russian people.
Yavlinsky was the third most voted candidate in the 2000 presidential election, with 4.3 million votes, a far cry from Putin’s nearly 40 million.
Source: DN
