The Kremlin said on Monday that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from the parts of the Donbas it still controls if it wants to reach a peace deal with Russia. Otherwise, Kiev risks losing more territory, according to Moscow. The statement came as another phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump is expected.
"We are talking about the withdrawal of the regime's armed forces from Donbas," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Asked whether the Russian demands also applied to the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions, he declined to answer, saying he would "not discuss the details."
Indeed, Russia considers Donbas, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson to be its territories, although most countries continue to recognise them as part of Ukraine. According to Russian estimates, Moscow currently controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory - including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, as well as about 90 percent of the Donbas and most of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson.
Trump sees progress and the Kremlin upping the pressure
Peskov confirmed that Putin and Trump had spoken on Sunday, before Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida. Another phone call between the two leaders is expected to take place "very soon."
At the same time, the Kremlin confirmed that it has no information yet on the results of the US-Ukraine talks and that there is no talk of a phone call between Putin and Zelensky.
Asked whether the Russian side agreed with Trump's assessment that the peace talks were nearing their final stage, Peskov replied tersely, "Of course."
After his meeting with Zelensky, Trump spoke of significant progress in the negotiations, but acknowledged that some issues remain open. "We could be very close, but there's one or two very sensitive issues, very difficult issues," the US president explained. He added, however, that "they have made a lot of progress".
According to Sky News, Zelensky stated on Monday that the fate of Donbass and the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant remains unresolved in the 20-point peace plan. He confirmed that negotiations on the creation of a free economic zone in Donbass are continuing, but stressed that they "must include the Ukrainian people."
After his talks with Trump, the Ukrainian president tried to sum up the state of the peace process using percentages. "Twenty-point peace plan - 90 percent agreed," he revealed to reporters. Security guarantees between the US and Ukraine are "100 percent agreed," he said, while broader security guarantees between the US, Europe and Ukraine are "almost agreed."
He confirmed that the plan envisages US security guarantees for 15 years, although he had originally called for 50 years.
Negotiations have been accompanied by attacks
However, despite diplomatic declarations, the fighting in Ukraine continues. The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia sent 25 drones to Ukraine during the Trump-Zelensky talks, most of which were shot down. However, four drones hit targets in the Donetsk region and in the north of the country.
The pressure on Ukraine is also increasing publicly. Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna urged Zelensky to "accept the deal", which she described as "great". Her call was joined by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who responded by talking about "the advice of peacemaker Lunova versus the warmongers of the UK and the EU".
Dmitriev, a close Kremlin associate, has long accused European countries of fomenting the continuation of the war in the form of support for Ukraine.
Zaporizhzhya power plant could operate only after the war
Ramil Galiev, head of Russia's Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant administration, said the facility could resume electricity production by mid-2027 if the war ends in the near future. "If it happens tomorrow, we will be ready to start in mid-2027," he told Russia's state-run RIA news agency.
Europe's largest nuclear power plant has been under Russian control since March 2022 and is currently not generating electricity. Both Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling it, which both sides say threatens a nuclear disaster.
(reuters, pir)