Day 458 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russia is preparing a Simulation of an Accident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP according to Kyiv

Day 458 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Kremlin: In order for there to be peace, Ukraine must give up joining NATO and the EU
• An explosion has damaged a Russian oil pipeline building near the border with Belarus
• Kyiv: Russia is preparing a simulation of an accident at the Zaporizhzhia NPP
• Putin seeks rapprochement with Georgia, shocked by anti-Russian protests there

Kremlin: In order for there to be peace, Ukraine must give up joining NATO and the EU

Ukraine's refusal to join NATO and the EU and return to neutral non-aligned status is one of the conditions for achieving peace, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS, BTA reported.

The Deputy Minister noted that Russia's approach to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine has not changed: it includes "protection of the residents of Donbas, demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine, and removal of threats to Russia's security arising from its territory."

"We are convinced that the settlement of the conflict is possible only with the cessation of hostilities by the Ukrainian army and the supply of Western weapons. In order to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, Ukraine must return to the neutral non-aligned status written in the declaration for its state sovereignty since 1990 and to give up joining NATO and the EU," Galuzin said.

He added that the new territorial realities created as a result of the realization of the peoples' right to self-determination must be recognized. According to Galuzin, this is an important element of...