Putin is unyielding on territorial issues in the Ukraine war - and proposes new aid operations

Russian leader Vladimir Putin reiterated his unyielding Russian territorial demands on Ukraine at a meeting with US negotiators.

In a conversation with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow, the Kremlin chief said that for Russia there was only one possible border line with Ukraine, and that was the official Russian external border. According to Putin's understanding, this border also includes Ukrainian territories that Russia has annexed. The Kremlin released a video recording of the start of the conversation.

In addition to the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, Moscow also declared the Ukrainian administrative regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson to be Russian territory in 2022.

From a military point of view, the four areas are partly under Ukrainian control. Above all, Russia demands a withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donetsk and Luhansk, the so-called Donbass, which Putin was unable to conquer in almost five years of war.

Ukraine categorically rejects any cessions of territory. She points out that the Russian troops have not advanced as far as the Moscow General Staff reported to Putin. In the conversation, the Kremlin chief suggested a humanitarian action for the Donbass town of Kostyantynivka in order to evacuate civilians from there, as was recently the case in the front-line town of Oleshky, which is occupied by Moscow.

But while Oleshky in the Kherson region to the south is clearly in Russian hands, the situation in Kostiantynivka is less clear. According to military bloggers, there are still positions of Ukrainian soldiers there.

At the same time, Putin reiterated that a possible stationing of Western troops in Ukraine after the end of the war would be viewed by Moscow as a threat to its security. These would then be “a legitimate target” for Russia, Putin said in a conversation with US envoys that was recorded by Russian state television. “In other words: the war would flare up again immediately,” the Kremlin chief added.

Witkoff, as special envoy of US President Donald Trump, and Trump's son-in-law Kushner traveled to Moscow to inform Putin about talks with representatives of Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi. It was Witkoff's fourth meeting with Putin this year.

Kushner raised the question of European participation in negotiations to end the Ukraine war. Russia was never against talks with the Europeans, Putin replied. But he said the US should work with the Europeans to help them decide whether they want war or peace. Russia also demands that the Europeans appoint a negotiator.

The day before, the federal government had stated that there was an agreement from Abu Dhabi with the USA, according to which Europe would be involved in the negotiations. This will be communicated to Putin, said government spokesman Stefan Kornelius.