Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday outline draft peace proposals discussed by the US and Ukraine could become the basis of future agreements to end the conflict in Ukraine, but if not Russia would continue fighting.
US President Donald Trump has long said he wants to end the war in Ukraine, Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War 2, but his efforts so far, including a summit with Putin in Alaska in August, have not brought peace.
A leaked 28-point US peace plan emerged last week, spooking Ukrainian and European officials who felt it bowed to Moscow’s key demands on Nato, Moscow’s control of a fifth of Ukraine and restrictions on Ukraine’s army.
European powers gave their counter-proposal for peace, and at talks in Geneva the US and Ukraine said they had created an “updated and refined peace framework” to end the war.
Putin, speaking in Bishkek after a summit with the leaders of a grouping of former Soviet republics, told reporters the discussions so far were not about a draft agreement of any kind but about sets of issues.
He said in Geneva the US and Ukraine had decided to divide up the 28 points into four separate components, and a copy had been transmitted to Moscow.
“In general, we agree this could be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said. “We see the American side takes into account our position.”
Putin said some things needed to be discussed. If Europe wanted a pledge not to attack it, Russia was willing to give such a formal pledge, he said, though he added it was “complete nonsense” to suggest Russia would attack Europe.
CHOICE IS WAR OR PEACE, PUTIN SAYS
Putin mixed a clear public expression of readiness to engage with the Trump administration over a possible peace plan for Ukraine with several warnings that Russia was prepared to continue fighting if necessary and take more of Ukraine.
Russian forces control more than 19% of Ukraine, or 115,600km², up one percentage point from two years ago, and have advanced this year at the fastest pace since 2022, according to pro-Ukrainian maps.
Putin said Russia was being told it should cease the fighting but needed Kyiv’s forces to pull back before it could do so.
“Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they hold, and then the fighting will cease. If they don’t leave, we shall achieve this by armed means. That’s it,” Putin said.
Putin said he considered the Ukrainian leadership to be illegitimate and this meant it was legally impossible to sign a deal with Kyiv.
It was therefore important, he said, to ensure any agreement was recognised by the international community, and that the international community recognised Russian gains in Ukraine.
“Therefore, broadly speaking, of course, we ultimately want to reach an agreement with Ukraine. But right now this is practically impossible. Impossible legally,” Putin said.
He said the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and the eastern Donbas region should be a topic for discussions with the US.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff plans to visit Moscow early next week, Putin said. US sanctions on Russian oil companies were unexpected, he added.
Commenting on the leak of a recording of a call between top advisers to Trump and Putin, the Kremlin chief rejected the suggestion Witkoff had shown himself to be biased towards Moscow in peace talks over Ukraine, describing it as nonsense.
“It would be astonishing if he rained curses down upon our heads, was very rude and then arrived to develop ties with us,” Putin said of Witkoff, casting him as a patriot defending US interests.
Reuters
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