“Putin is testing limits”: Ukraine’s Parliament speaker outlines when truce with Russia is possible

He said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

Stefanchuk believes a truce with Russia is only possible when world leaders accept that agreements with Putin don’t work and collectively force him to agree to the terms of a just peace.

“I agree that Putin is testing the limits of what’s acceptable. And until someone pushes back, he’ll keep going. We saw this during the Kursk operation, we saw it in the Kyiv region. The moment someone hits back and speaks the language he understands, he stops. Until this awareness is present throughout the world that it is impossible to come to an agreement with Putin, it is only possible to accept his conditions, that is how he sees it,” Stefanchuk said.

He added that only a united global front can clearly state that Russia’s actions are war crimes. The International Criminal Court has already issued arrest warrants for Putin, Lvova-Belova, and others over the deportation of Ukrainian children.

“But as long as there’s hesitation, as long as anyone plays along with Putin, and I don’t mean Ukraine, because we’re doing our part both at the front and behind the lines because it affects us directly. I want this illusion to drop for everyone else. Everyone must understand: Putin must accept the terms of a just peace, a return to global order, terms all international partners must set together,” Stefanchuk said.

He also criticized the shift in focus from security to politics among some global actors.

“It feels like some countries have pushed security down the priority list, the base of the Maslow’s pyramid, and gone back to politics. That’s the worst thing, and I try to explain this even to colleagues in our parliament: if we prioritize political games over national security, we risk losing this war,” he added.

Stefanchuk stressed that unity is key because “unity is the nut the Russian dictator still can’t crack.”

“You can’t play by his rules. Appeasing an aggressor only brings more bloodshed. Churchill said it best: an appeaser is just someone feeding the crocodile, hoping to be eaten last,” he concluded.

• According to Ukraine's MFA, Russian leader Vladimir Putin deliberately ordered the shelling of Kyiv during the G7 summit to project weakness in global leadership. Russia continues to show open contempt for peace efforts.