Russia's President Vladimir Putin wants Ukrainian territory. Photo / Alexey Nikolsky, AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims as its own – otherwise his army would take it by force.
The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.
The US has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.
“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”
Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.
Another important issue in the talks is Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.
Washington’s original plan – drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies – would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.
The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.
Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.
“Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points. But Russia was still seeking international recognition of the occupied territories, Putin added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s top aide, Andriy Yermak, strongly denied that in an interview with US outlet the Atlantic published on Thursday.
“As long as Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory,” Yermak said.
“All we can realistically talk about right now is really to define the line of contact,” he said, referring to the sprawling 1100km front line.
US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.
In his remarks this week, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region – the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.
“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.
Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.
The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.
Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.
Putin also questioned Zelenskyy’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.
According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467sq km (180sq m) each month in 2025 – a step up from 2024.
Moscow launched its fullscale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.
– Agence France-Presse