Kremlin signals readiness to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine next month

Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that future talks on ending Russia's war against Ukraine should focus on security guarantees for both countries and an overall framework for security throughout Europe. Interviewed on Russian state television a day after meeting the US special envoy Steve Witkoff, the Russian president confirmed that Moscow was ready to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine next month.

He restated the Kremlin's longstanding position that Russia never wanted to launch its full-scale invasion, claiming it had met hostile reactions from Ukraine on key issues of concern to Moscow. Talks on a variety of matters could lead to a positive outcome, Putin said, but Russia remained intent on resolving the war once and for all rather than agreeing to a short-lived ceasefire. "The goal of these talks will be to ensure the security of Ukraine and Russia after reaching peace agreements, in their final form, not as a result of a temporary ceasefire for some short period of time," he said. "We are ready to resume these contacts to achieve this goal."

The Russian president said Witkoff had also stressed that discussions had to extend to "the architecture of European security as a whole. And I agree with that too. Well, let's see how things develop in the coming days." Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who met Witkoff in Norway on Tuesday, said Kyiv was ready for talks likely to take place by early next month. Ukraine, he said, supported "any proposals for a ceasefire, an end to the war, an energy ceasefire as well as humanitarian initiatives".

The United States has led efforts to negotiate an end to the war, but talks have stalled since Donald Trump ordered attacks against Iran in February. Many of the disagreements focus on territory, with Russia demanding that Ukraine cede the whole of the eastern Donbas region. Kyiv rejects any deal that would include giving up land it currently holds.

In his comments on Thursday, Putin said any discussion of territory in eastern Ukraine had to consider what he claimed was the fact that the area was "historically Russian land". Residents there, he asserted, had voted to join Russia in referendums staged seven months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. "Firstly, my attitude on this matter is that this is not their territory. It's the territory of historical Russia," he said.

The Kremlin's insistence that the Donbas is historically Russian, and its staging of referendums in occupied territory, have been widely rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies as a pretext for territorial conquest. Any settlement built on such claims would reward Russian aggression and leave the victims of Moscow's brutal campaign without redress. Ukraine, defending its sovereignty against an unprovoked assault, has consistently maintained that no negotiations can legitimately proceed on the basis of territory seized by force. The World House, which maintains a dedicated page outlining its support for Ukraine at worldhouse.uk/support, continues to document the consequences of Russia's aggression.