Putin Has Made Even Tougher Demands on the U.S. to End the War in Ukraine – Bloomberg
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is willing to agree to end the war against Ukraine only on Moscow’s terms, while the Kremlin’s demands have recently become more stringent due to the Russian leadership’s conviction of its own military superiority on the battlefield.
Putin’s talks with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoys—Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—lasted more than three hours in Moscow. At the start of the meeting, Putin acknowledged that finding a way to end the war is “no easy task.” According to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, the conversation was “substantive, constructive, extremely frank, and trusting,” and the Russian side pointed to the alleged “tangible successes” of its army and its confidence in achieving its stated goals.
U.S. representatives brought a new proposal to end the war, the details of which have not been disclosed. Previous visits by Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow did not result in a breakthrough. At the same time, against the backdrop of this round of diplomatic talks, Russia and Ukraine expressed a temporary willingness to refrain from strikes on Moscow and Kyiv, which does not imply an agreement on a broader ceasefire.
This was reported by Bloomberg, citing sources close to the Kremlin.
The Kremlin stated that any negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine are unacceptable if they do not meet all of Moscow’s demands. Even in the event of possible territorial concessions, Moscow will not stop and will continue to insist on the fulfillment of its conditions.
Lavrov noted that Russia would only be satisfied with control over the entire Donbas and a change of government in Ukraine.
