Photo: president.gov.ua

An immediate ceasefire without serious negotiations, without a road map to a just and lasting peace will legitimize Russia's seizure of Ukrainian territories and will lead to a new frozen conflict, says German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"How to end Russia's war against Ukraine and achieve a just and lasting peace?... Peace is more than the absence of war. And an immediate ceasefire without serious negotiations, without a road map toward a just and lasting peace, merely on the basis of so-called new realities simply would only legitimize Russia's illegal land grab and in the end this would result in yet another frozen conflict," Scholz said at the first plenary session of the global Peace Summit.