Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that Moscow will seek to increase its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.
U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed an in depth diplomatic push to finish nearly 4 years of fighting following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Washington’s efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Speaking at an annual meeting with top military officers, Putin said Moscow would like to realize its goals and “eliminate the foundation causes of the conflict” by diplomatic means, but he added that “if the opposing side and its foreign patrons refuse to have interaction in substantive dialogue, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means.”
Putin was referring to Ukrainian territory seized by Russia — motion widely condemned within the West as a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and an unprovoked act of aggression.
Putin claimed that “the Russian army has seized and is firmly holding strategic initiative all along the front line” and warned that Moscow will move to expand a “buffer security zone” alongside the Russian border.
“Our troops are different now, they’re battle-hardened and there isn’t a other such army on the planet now,” he said.
Putin praised Russia’s growing military might and particularly noted the modernization of its atomic arsenal, including the brand new nuclear-capable intermediate range Oreshnik ballistic missile that he said will officially enter combat duty this month. Russia first tested a conventionally armed version of the Oreshnik to strike a Ukrainian factory in November 2024, and Putin has boasted that it’s unattainable to intercept.
At the identical time, he rejected European officials’ statements about Moscow’s purported plans to attack European nations as “lies and sheer nonsense … driven by short-sighted personal or group political interests, not by the interests of their people.”
Sharply different demands by Moscow and Kyiv
Putin’s tough statements follow several rounds of talks this week between Ukrainian, American and European officials on a U.S.-drafted peace plan. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting with U.S. envoys in Berlin that the document could possibly be finalized inside days, after which U.S. envoys will present it to the Kremlin.
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Trump has said this week that “I believe we’re closer now than now we have ever been, ever” to reaching a deal and praised “tremendous support from European leaders” who “need to get it ended.”
“I actually think that President Putin desires to see it end,” he told reporters Monday.
Putin wants all of the areas in 4 key regions captured by his forces, in addition to Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He also has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured yet.
The Kremlin also insists that Ukraine abandon its bid to hitch NATO and warns it won’t accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and can view them as “legitimate goal.”
Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to hitch NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees much like those offered to NATO members. But Ukraine’s preference stays NATO membership as the most effective security guarantee to forestall further Russian aggression.
At the identical time, Zelenskyy has rejected Moscow’s demands that it pull back its troops from other areas that Russia has not been in a position to take by force.
The Ukrainian leader described the draft peace plan discussed with the U.S. during talks in Berlin on Monday as “not perfect” but “very workable,” noting that Kyiv and its allies were very near a deal on “strong security guarantees.” But he also emphasized that the important thing issue of control over territory remain unresolved and rejected the U.S. push for Ukraine to cede control over the eastern Donetsk region.
Putin on Wednesday again praised Trump’s settlement efforts and seconded Trump’s repeated claims that the war in Ukraine wouldn’t have erupted under his watch. He charged that the previous U.S. administration and a number of the European allies he contemptuously called “piglings” had vainly expected Russia’s collapse.
The Russian leader said a dialogue with Europe “is unlikely to turn out to be possible with the present political elites, but in any case, it can be inevitable as we grow stronger if not with the present politicians, then with a change in political elites in Europe.”
Russian military maps out for more gains
Reporting to Putin at Wednesday’s military meeting, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov spelled out plans for further advances, saying the most recent Russian advances in Donetsk have set the stage for a fast push into the Ukrainian-controlled a part of the region.
Belousov also declared that Russian troops were preparing to drive Ukrainian forces from parts of the Zaporizhzhia region that Moscow also annexed in 2022 but never fully captured, in addition to extend gains in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk.
“The important thing task for the subsequent 12 months is to preserve and speed up the tempo of the offensive,” he said.
Belousov spelled out plans for expanding Russian military capabilities, specializing in drones, jamming equipment and air defense assets.
As Russia continues its grinding advances in lots of sectors of the front, it also pummeled Ukraine with each day missile and drone strikes.
At the very least 26 people were injured by Russian glide bombs in Zaporizhzhia and its vicinity, in keeping with regional administration head Ivan Fedorov. The attack damaged several residential buildings, in addition to infrastructure and an academic facility.
At the very least 69 long-range drones were launched by Russia overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Air defenses intercepted or jammed 29 drones within the morning, with the assault continuing through the day.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 94 Ukrainian drones overnight.
In Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, drones injured two people and damaged several private houses, in keeping with regional emergency officials. Within the southwestern Voronezh region, Gov. Alexander Gusev said drone fragments damaged an influence line serving an infrastructure facility, causing a blaze that was quickly extinguished.
With additional files from Global News
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