Putin Makes Cease-Fire Offer With Sweeping Demands on Ukraine’s Territory

President Vladimir V. Putin said on Friday that Russia would be ready to order a cease-fire in Ukraine and enter negotiations with its government if Kyiv withdrew troops from the four regions that Moscow has claimed as its own and dropped its aspirations to join NATO.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry quickly denounced Mr. Putin’s statement, saying that his goal was “to mislead the international community, undermine diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving a just peace and split the unity of the world over the goals and principles of the United Nations Charter.”

Mr. Putin’s new announcement stipulates that Ukraine effectively surrender huge swaths of its land to Moscow, including the capitals of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. They represent Mr. Putin’s most concrete set of territorial conditions to stop the war to date.

Until now, Mr. Putin has said that any negotiations should take into account “the realities of today,” a stance that some analysts interpreted as offering a cease-fire at the current battle lines.

Kyiv has said that Russia must withdraw its troops from all of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory.

Mr. Putin made the remarks one day before a peace conference in Zurich that Ukraine has organized to persuade countries to sign onto its plans for the war and eventual peace. Russia was not invited to the summit, and Mr. Putin’s announcement appeared intended to get out ahead of the gathering.