Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a clear indication Wednesday that he will not compromise on his demands for Ukraine to cede territory despite US President Donald Trump’s intensifying push for peace.
In a combative speech delivered as US and European leaders engage in frantic diplomatic efforts to secure a peace agreement, Putin lashed out at Ukraine’s European allies and said Russia would take territory by force if necessary.
“We would prefer to do this, and eliminate the root causes of the conflict, through diplomacy,” Putin said at the annual meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry.
“If the opposing country and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive discussions, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands through military means,” he added. He referred to regions he is demanding that Ukraine cede, a key sticking point in the ongoing peace talks.
This question of territory, as well as security guarantees for Ukraine, has proven difficult to resolve during the peace talks, exposing the competing priorities of Ukraine, the United States, Europe and Russia.
Russia has illegally annexed Ukraine’s Donbas region but has not fully conquered it. At the current rate of its advance, Russia would not seize the entire region until August 2027, according to an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict monitor.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv will not recognize the temporarily occupied part of the eastern Donbas region as legally or de facto Russian.
Credit: cnn.com
