Putin says US-backed peace plan as framework is OK ‘in general’ | Russia-Ukraine war News

Russian leader says Ukraine should give up key territory and the world should recognize Russia’s achievements.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed optimism about a draft United States-backed peace plan for Ukraine, saying it could serve as the foundation for a future agreement on which Russia is ready for “serious” discussions.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday during a state visit to Kyrgyzstan, Putin acknowledged that the US had taken Russia’s position into account in the talks, but said some issues still needed to be considered.

“In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” he said of the draft plan.

The Russian leader also confirmed that United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will soon travel to Moscow for more talks, saying they should focus on Russia-controlled Donbass and Crimea.

The US last week unveiled a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine that was widely seen as too favorable to Russia, including a call for Kiev to make major territorial concessions and abandon its NATO ambitions. The plan has since been changed with Ukrainian input, said Ukraine’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kislitsya, eliminating the 600,000-man limit on Ukraine’s military and a general war crimes amnesty.

However, complete details of the latest proposal have not been disclosed.

In his latest comments, Putin said there is no final version of the plan to talk about.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Thursday that U.S. and Ukrainian officials would continue to work on the plan.

‘Ukrainian troops must withdraw’

Despite Putin’s apparent openness to compromise, he insisted that Russia was prepared to continue the nearly four-year war, which has left thousands killed or wounded on both sides, if Ukraine does not give up key territory.

“Ukrainian troops will have to withdraw from the areas they occupy, and then the fighting will stop. If they don’t withdraw, we will achieve this by armed means. That’s all,” Putin said, claiming that Russian forces are advancing at a rapid pace into Ukraine.

The Russian leader also said that any future agreement must acknowledge Russia’s territorial gains in Ukraine and be accepted by the international community, adding that he considers Ukraine’s current leadership illegitimate.

Russia sentences alleged Crimean bridge attackers

Putin’s comments come the same day a Russian court ruled in a deadly 2022 truck bomb attack claimed by Ukraine’s secret services.

A military court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don sentenced eight people to life in prison on charges of helping Ukrainian secret services carry out the bombing, which destroyed a bridge linking southern Russia with Russian-held Crimea and damaged a key supply route for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

The bridge, seen by both Ukraine and Russia as a symbol of Moscow’s 2014 annexation and annexation of the Crimean peninsula, was personally inaugurated by Putin in 2018.

The defendants in the case, convicted of “terrorism” and arms trafficking, maintained their innocence.