Vladimir Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukrainian troops withdraw from Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
If not, Russia will seize the area without compromise.
“Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories,” he told India Today.
Russia currently controls some 85% of Donbas, and 20% of Ur
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky has firmly ruled out ceding territory.
The plan for peace, supervised by the US, proposed the Russia receive parts of the Donbas which are still under Ukrainian control.
Apparently that won’t be enough for Putin, who says he did not see the new version of the peace plan.
Main points of contention remain both territorial claims and security guarantees for Ukraine.
Thus, peace talks seem to have fallen through, as has happened time and time again in the last year.
European negotiators have voiced concern and disappointment at American leniency towards Russia in the proposed plan for peace.
“There is a possibility that the US will betray Ukraine on the issue of territory without clarity on security guarantees,” French President Emmanuel Macron has said plainly. However, his office is backtracking on the comment, with the Élysée Palace denying he ever said such a thing, while also refusing to share transcripts of the conference.
“They are playing games, both with you and with us,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to Ukrainian President Zelensky.
“We are now waiting for the reaction of our American colleagues to the discussion we had on Tuesday,” says Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, as Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff planned to meet Ukraine’s team in Florida.
Reports say that the Donbas is a “mined wasteland” now, largely depopulated.
Police arrest former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini over suspected fraud
