Putin Open to Elements of Trump’s Peace Plan but Asserts Ukraine Faces Military Pressure

On Thursday, President Vladimir Putin indicated a potential openness to certain aspects of a new U.S. proposal aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine. However, he firmly warned that Russian forces would persist in their operations in the Donbas region if Ukraine does not meet his ceasefire conditions.

“Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they currently control, and only then will the fighting cease. If they fail to do so, we will accomplish this through military means,” Putin stated during a press briefing in Kyrgyzstan.

He asserted that Russian forces are making progress on “all fronts” and that Ukrainian casualties now exceed Kyiv’s capacity to replenish its military personnel.

Putin reiterated his long-held belief that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is no longer a valid leader, claiming that Ukraine’s delay of its presidential elections under martial law renders it “legally impossible” to formalize an agreement with him.

“We wish to enter into a treaty with Ukraine, but that is nearly impossible from a legal standpoint,” he explained. “The decision must be recognized on an international level.”

These remarks emerged amid a fresh wave of diplomatic activity following last week’s leak of a 28-point peace plan originally crafted by the Trump administration, with input from Kremlin officials. This plan has since been reduced to about 20 points, and U.S. representatives have suggested that Ukraine is amenable to the revised version.

It is uncertain whether Putin will endorse these modifications, which sources describe as “significantly better” for Ukraine than the initial framework perceived to be more aligned with Russia’s stance.

The Kremlin mentioned that the original draft contained “numerous provisions” that were acceptable but stressed that it still required “rewriting.”

During the press conference, Putin reiterated this viewpoint, denying that Russian officials had a direct role in creating the original U.S. document following his meeting with President Donald Trump in Alaska in August.

“There was no finalized agreement; there were simply topics put forward for discussion,” he noted, adding that Kremlin officials only examined the U.S. proposal after it had been leaked to the media.

While not explicitly stating his support for all the provisions, Putin indicated that “in general, we concur that it could form the basis for future agreements,” implying that some aspects correspond with Moscow’s negotiating stance.

Nonetheless, he criticized elements of the framework for lacking a serious legal foundation, pointing out one provision that would obligate Russia to codify a non-aggression policy towards Europe and Ukraine.

“It’s one thing to state generally that Russia has no plans to attack Europe. To us, that seems absurd, as we never intended to,” he remarked. “But if they want us to put it in writing, we can certainly do that. No issue.”

Putin also responded sharply to European leaders who have warned of possible future Russian aggression, suggesting that some of these officials are “not entirely in their right minds.”

Next week, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to lead a delegation to Moscow to meet with Putin and discuss the revised peace proposal developed by U.S. and Ukrainian officials over the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland.