Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly ruled out making any concessions to Ukraine in future peace talks as President Donald Trump pushes for a quick end to the war.
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Putin’s remarks follow Russia’s peace talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia in February as well as Trump’s recent statement that during his congressional address that he has received “strong signals that they [Russia] are ready for peace.”
The Russian president’s rejection of concessions to Ukraine highlights the perception that Trump has asked Kyiv to make the efforts, as evidenced by the heated Oval Office meeting with Zelensky and Vice President JD Vance on February 28, but has not required Moscow to do the same.
What to Know
During a meeting with employees and members of the Defenders of the Fatherland foundation on Thursday, the Russian president spoke about his conditions for a peace agreement with Ukraine.
One of the participants in the meeting, a woman whose son died fighting in the war, said that Russia should not give in to anyone, and Putin said that “we don’t intend to do that,” according to Russia’s parliamentary newspaper.
The Russian president added that Russia needs to choose an option to achieve long-term peace, and said, “We must choose for ourselves a peace option that would suit us and that would ensure peace for our country over the long-term historical perspective.”
The Russian president has previously outlined what he was willing to accept in terms of peace negotiations and has often ruled out making any territorial concessions.
Just before meeting with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia in February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that there would be no territorial concessions.
“Territorial concessions to what is now called Ukraine were made by the Soviet leadership during the formation of the USSR,” he said. Russia controls about 20 percent of Ukrainian territory and has pushed for Kyiv to cede control of the entirety of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Russia has also rejected the idea of freezing all conflict at the current front lines in order to achieve peace, and that it was not considering any options for deploying European peacekeepers in Ukraine to oversee a ceasefire.
Bloomberg reported that European officials were recently told that Trump wanted to link a potential minerals deal between Kyiv and Washington to Ukraine committing to a quick ceasefire with Russia.
What People Are Saying
Sean Savett, former White House spokesperson for the Biden administration, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Putin said today he won’t make any concessions while Zelenskyy has been repeating his readiness to make peace and laid out a proposal for a ceasefire. And yet it’s Ukraine—and only Ukraine—that Donald Trump is putting the squeeze on??”
