President Putin has signed a decree which states that Kremlin-backed authorities must increase the number of people who identify as Russian and speak Russian in the occupied parts of Ukraine.
Since the invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022, Putin has claimed to have annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
The document, published on Tuesday, titled “Strategy of Russia’s national policy in the period to 2036”, said securing control over the Ukrainian regions “created conditions for restoring the unity of the historical territories of the Russian state”.
It was vital, the document said, “to adopt additional measures to strengthen overall Russian civic identity”, entrench use of Russian and act against “efforts by unfriendly foreign states to destabilise inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations and create a split in society”.
Kremlin adviser responds to leak
The Kremlin’s adviser has also responded to reports of the leaked call.
“I speak fairly often with Witkoff, but the content of those conversations is confidential,” Yuri Ushakov said in comments to Russian TV.
He said such reports risked damaging US-Russian ties, which “are being built, with difficulty”, but mainly through phone calls.
Trump defends Witkoff after call leaked 
President Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday
ANNA ROSE LAYDEN/FILE PHOTO/REUTERS
President Trump defended his envoy after a call between Steve Witkoff and Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, was leaked to the media.
During the phone call on October 14, Witkoff said Ukraine would have to give up land to secure a peace deal, and appeared to be advising the Russians on how Putin should negotiate with Trump.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the call, first reported by Bloomberg, represented a “very standard form of negotiations”.
Ukraine accepts ‘core terms’ of peace proposal
Ukraine has said it accepts the “core terms” of a peace proposal, but doubts remain about President Putin’s willingness to end the war.
Kyiv’s allies have advanced a 19-point plan to potentially end the war, revised from an original 28-point plan drawn up by US and Russian negotiators that was widely considered too favourable to Moscow.
“We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe,” President Zelensky said on Tuesday. “Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won’t work.”
• Ukraine accepts ‘core terms’ of plan that could give peace a chance
Kremlin confirms Witkoff meeting 
The two men met in Moscow in August
EPA/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL
The Kremlin has confirmed that US special envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow next week to meet President Putin to discuss a plan to end the Ukraine conflict.
“A preliminary agreement has been reached on (Witkoff’s) visit to Moscow next week,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said on Russian TV.
Several other officials from the Trump administration will accompany Witkoff, Ushakov said.
Trump first announced the trip on Tuesday, saying Witkoff may be joined by Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law.