Putin is ready for “final agreement” with Ukraine and not “short pause”

A Russia is ready to resume tripartite negotiations with Ukraine and the United States, but to reach a definitive peace agreement, not a short ceasefire, President Vladimir Putin said today that he reiterated the demand for Ukrainian territory.

“ The aim of these discussions will be to address the issue of security guarantees, both for Ukraine and Russia (...) within the framework of a final agreement, and not after a brief pause in fighting,” Putin told a state television journalist.

The future talks, after the armed conflict, should also include a debate on the “European security architecture”, Putin, who met with White House emissary Steve Witkoff, Wednesday in St Petersburg.

According to Putin, Witkoff “declared that if future security issues are addressed in both Ukraine and Russia, then, of course, it will also be necessary to talk about European security architecture.”.

“In general, I agree with this,” Putin assured.

The Russian President categorically rejected the latest proposal by his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to “freeze” the current front line in the east of the country – the Donbass, which comprises the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk – in exchange for the start of direct negotiations.

Putin also refuted Zelensky’s view of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, arguing that the entire eastern region is “Russian territory”, invoking referendums on independence held in the parts of the two Ukrainian provinces under Russian occupation.

The referendums were not internationally recognized as legitimate, except for some Moscow allies. After the unrecognised referendums, the two provinces were incorporated into the Russian Federation.

“ My position in this regard is that this is not their territory; historically, it is Russian territory,” Putin said, rejecting the “territorial losses” of Ukraine.

Putin also insisted that any idea of a military victory against Russia is an illusion, and that Zelensky and his allies should abandon this strategy, although Russian forces have not made significant progress on the ground for several years and the conflict is approaching the fifth anniversary.

Putin also underestimated the idea of a “Russian threat” among European countries, which have been dealing with a growing number of hybrid attacks on Moscow, including against critical infrastructure such as airports.

Zelensky, today argued that the country cannot give up the cities of Slovaksk and Kramatorsk in Donetsk, because if it did, it would pave the way for Russia to reach Dnipro province.

“They can take over many of our cities. The risk is real”, he warned.

“If we give them our cities, the risk is enormous (...). No one guarantees us anything (...). If we withdraw, where are the security guarantees?” Zelensky asked in an interview given to the British podcast “The Diary of a CEO”.

The Ukrainian Head of State also stressed “how unfair” it would be to deliver these two areas of Donetsk, which are the last bastions left to Ukraine, not only in that province, but throughout the eastern region of the Donbass, where Lugansk has been under Russian control since July 2022, just months after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on February 24 of that year.

Currently, Russia controls between 75% and 85% of Donetsk, but not the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovaksk — areas of great symbolic and strategic importance, which house an extensive industrial hub, on which the local economy depends, and a vital rail and road network for connection to the provinces of Kharkiv and Dnipro.

If those bastions fell, the Ukrainian defense in the rest of Donbass would eventually collapse.

Putin reaffirmed days ago that the priority objective is to “liberate” Donetsk of what remains of the Kiev regime.

Zelensky estimated that Russia controls between 18% and 19% of Ukrainian territory and warned that Putin also targets cities such as Zaporijia and Mykolaiv, “although he does not say so directly.”.

The Ukrainian leader also stressed that Ukraine is already making “a great compromise” to Russia only by “maintaining the current situation” and on Wednesday, in an interview with the US television channel Fox News, he even expressed willingness to “freeze” the current front line if this would allow for a peace plan.

The front line extends for about 1,000 kilometres, and Russian forces control approximately 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, and the Donbass areas.