Putin demands Ukraine’s troop withdrawal from Donbas amid US peace talks, warns of military action, addresses Witkoff leak. Photo: X.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reiterated that Ukraine must withdraw its forces from the Donbas region, days before a planned visit by a US delegation for peace negotiations.
“Ukrainian troops will withdraw from the territories they occupy, and then the fighting will cease,” Putin told reporters.
“If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this through military force,” he added, according to The Kyiv Independent.
Moscow continues to occupy the eastern Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia, which it seized in September 2022 after staging widely condemned referenda. The Donbas, also known as the Donets Coal Basin, includes the heavily industrialized regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Putin confirmed that a US delegation led by special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to arrive in Moscow early next week. Witkoff has faced scrutiny following a leaked call in which he was allegedly heard advising a Russian official on how to flatter President Donald Trump during upcoming peace talks.
On Thursday, Putin said those behind the leak between Witkoff and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov could face criminal charges, although he did not rule out the possibility that the recording might be a hoax. He claimed that individuals targeting Witkoff were attempting to undermine the negotiations and wanted “to fight until the last Ukrainian,” comparing them to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Putin emphasized that recognition of Russia’s control over Donbas and Crimea, the annexed peninsula seized from Ukraine in 2014, remains a central requirement in talks with the United States. He also dismissed the possibility of signing new agreements with Ukraine, arguing that Zelensky’s government is illegitimate due to the postponement of national elections.
Under Ukraine’s martial law, imposed at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, elections cannot be held.
Putin revealed that after initial discussions, the proposed peace plan had been divided into four parts, though he did not provide specifics. He noted that the US proposal still required further negotiations.
The remarks come after President Donald Trump last week unveiled a 28-point peace plan that set out terms including limits on the size of Ukraine’s military, a ban on NATO membership, and the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas.
Following strong objections from Ukrainian and European representatives, a revised version of the peace plan was drafted on Sunday in Switzerland.
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Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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