MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated that Ukrainian forces must pull out of the eastern Donbas region, or Russia will take control by force, leaving no room for compromise on the war’s resolution.
“Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave,” Putin told India Today. Moscow currently controls roughly 85% of Donbas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has firmly rejected any suggestion of ceding territory.
Putin’s remarks follow comments from former US President Donald Trump, who said his negotiators believed Russia’s leader “would like to end the war” after recent talks in Moscow. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, who attended the Moscow meetings, is expected to meet Ukraine’s team in Florida.
Trump described the Kremlin discussions as “reasonably good,” but cautioned that it was too early to predict the outcome, noting that “it does take two to tango.”
The original US peace plan suggested transferring control of parts of Donbas still held by Ukraine to Russia. However, Witkoff’s team reportedly presented a revised version during the Moscow talks.
Speaking to India Today ahead of his state visit to Delhi, Putin said he had not seen the updated plan before meeting with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. “That’s why we had to go through every point carefully, which took a long time,” he explained.
Putin added that Moscow disagreed with certain aspects of the US proposal. “Sometimes we said yes, we can discuss this, but on other points we cannot agree,” he said, without specifying the exact sticking points. Key issues still unresolved include the status of Ukrainian territory captured by Russian forces and the security guarantees for Ukraine.
Following the talks, Putin’s senior foreign policy advisor and lead negotiator, Yuri Ushakov, confirmed that no compromise had been reached on ending the conflict.
(Inputs from BBC)
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