Russia is ready for “serious” peace talks, Vladimir Putin said Thursday, adding that the draft of a plan discussed by the United States and Ukraine could form the basis of a future deal to end the conflict.
The Russian leader said he felt that Washington was taking his position into account, but that some things still needed to be discussed when a U.S. delegation visits Moscow early next week.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Kyrgyzstan, Putin was responding for the first time since Kyiv secured changes to the proposal, which was initially viewed as too favorable to the Kremlin.
President Donald Trump has touted “tremendous progress,” but both the White House and Ukraine have indicated key points still needed to be hashed out.
Trump had earmarked Thanksgiving as a date for more concrete announcements, and close observers of the Kremlin have raised doubts about its readiness to agree to a deal that would involve concessions. But Putin sounded positive about the course of talks, even as he maintained Russia would gladly keep fighting.
Ukraine and its European allies balked at the initial proposal, which would grant Moscow its hard-line demands, but sounded positive following talks in Geneva with the U.S. last weekend.
“They decided among themselves that all 28 points should be divided into four separate components,” Putin said Thursday, adding that this new draft text was then handed to Russia.
“In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said.
Russia is “absolutely ready for a serious discussion” of the plan, Putin said.
Trump announced that his special envoy Steve Witkoff would be going to Russia next week for talks with Putin. The Russian leader said he did not know who exactly will be part of the American delegation but added: “We are waiting for them in the first half of next week.”
Meanwhile, Kyiv signaled that it was continuing talks with the American side all this week. “Later this week, our team together with American representatives will continue bringing the points we achieved in Geneva closer to a form that can lead us down the path toward peace and security guarantees,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech on Thursday. “There will be a meeting of the delegations. The Ukrainian delegation will be well-prepared and focused on substantive work.”
Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Thursday that it was important to keep up the momentum of talks. “It is important not to lose productivity and work quickly,” he said.
Putin emphasized that there was no final agreement, but said he felt that the U.S. was generally taking Russia’s position into account “in some aspects.”
But Putin warned that the proposal would need to be rewritten in “diplomatic language,” and that some points, like one that stipulates that Russia is not going to attack Europe, sounded “funny to us.”
He insisted that Russia had the upper hand across the front lines, noting that fighting would stop when Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territories they hold. “If they don’t withdraw, we will achieve this by force,” he said.
The leader also addressed leaked phone calls between his foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov and Witkoff, saying they could be real or fake. The leaks added fuel to criticism that Witkoff, and the original peace plan itself, were too favorable to Russia. The Kremlin said Wednesday the leaks were intended to disrupt peace talks.
Ostap Hunkevych contributed.