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Vladimir Putin said Moscow wants the United States to recognise Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine, stating that the Kremlin has no intention of slowing down its assault on the country.
“Ukrainian troops will withdraw from the territories they occupy, and then the fighting will cease,” the Russian president said in Kyrgyzstan.
“If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this through military force.”
Ukraine, together with the US and the European Union, has called for Moscow to first agree to a ceasefire and then engage in direct negotiations with Kyiv. But in his remarks on Thursday, Putin rejected this possibility as well.
Putin said he would only discuss it with the US, saying that “signing documents with the Ukrainian leadership is pointless”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on Putin to have direct talks on numerous occasions. US President Donald Trump has previously offered to helm a trilateral meeting, but the Kremlin refused to participate.
Next steps unclear
Meanwhile, Kyiv announced that the joint work of the Ukrainian and US delegations will continue this week and will follow up on the progress achieved in Geneva last weekend.
“It is crucial not to lose productivity and to work quickly,” the head of Zelenskyy’s office said. “Our key shared goal remains unchanged: achieving a lasting and dignified peace for Ukraine ASAP.”
And next week, Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow, following bombshell revelations by Bloomberg that he advised Russian officials how to draft Moscow’s demands into a plan and how to tailor it to get Trump’s support.
Representatives of the US, Russia and Ukraine held talks earlier this week in the United Arab Emirates. There were no European officials at the negotiating table, though their amendments to the initial US-Russia proposal are believed to have been incorporated into Kyiv’s position.
The Kremlin refused to communicate with any parties other than for the Trump administration, with Putin ridiculing parts of the drafted plan and rejecting claims that Russia is preparing to attack European countries – though he said he would be willing to formally put that assurance in writing.
“If this is hyped up by public opinion, if (Western countries) have scared their citizens and they want to hear that we are not going to and have no aggressive plans towards Europe – we are ready to confirm this however you want”, Putin said.
Moscow repeatedly denied its intentions to invade Ukraine both in 2014 and in 2022.
