Ukraine: Putin remains inflexible with US envoys at Kremlin
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on SeneNews
Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his maximalist demands over annexed territories and deemed European participation in talks unacceptable during a Kremlin meeting with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who were then due to travel to Dublin to meet Volodymyr Zelensky. The Russian president proposed a temporary truce in a key front-line city, according to SeneNews.
Vladimir Putin reaffirmed that Russia was claiming the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, Lougansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Moscow does not fully control. Russia currently occupies just over 19% of Ukrainian territory, according to SeneNews.
The Russian president also rejected the establishment of grey or demilitarised zones around the front line and said that any deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine would lead to the continuation of the war. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner called on Moscow to allow Europeans to participate directly in the talks, a possibility Russia continues to reject, according to SeneNews.
Moscow also wants the discussions to focus first on security in Europe, referring to the Yalta and Potsdam conferences of 1945. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that a window could open to reach a ceasefire before 2027, according to SeneNews.
