Russias Putin sets hardline condition for peace: Ukraine must cede land
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at 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. Washington…
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at 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.
Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hoped 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 would never cede, was among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.
