Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning that Ukrainian forces must leave Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will take it by force, making clear that in Russia's view there is no room for compromise over the disputed territory, the BBC reports. "Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories," Putin told India's India Today outlet in an interview ahead of a visit to the country. Russia has illegally annexed the Donbas region and currently controls about 85% of it. Putin has revived the term "Novorossiya," or "New Russia," to refer to certain Ukrainian territories, CNN reports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, has ruled out giving up any territory. The comments come after US President Trump said his negotiators believed Putin "would like to end the war" after a round of talks Tuesday in Moscow regarding the peace plan proposed by the US. Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to meet with Ukraine's team in Florida next. But in the interview published Thursday, Putin appeared to indicate any possible peace deal is still a ways off, the AP reports.
"We had to go through practically every point, which is why it took so much time," Putin said of Tuesday's five-hour-long talks. "It was a meaningful, highly specific and substantive conversation. Sometimes we said, 'Yes, we can discuss this, but with that one we cannot agree.'" He said some points of the US proposal were "unacceptable" to Russia, but would not specify which ones.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
