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<\/p>\nPresident 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.<\/p>\n
Since the invasion of Ukraine which began in February 2022, Putin has claimed to have annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.<\/p>\n
The document, published on Tuesday, titled \u201cStrategy of Russia\u2019s national policy in the period to 2036\u201d, said securing control over the Ukrainian regions \u201ccreated conditions for restoring the unity of the historical territories of the Russian state\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was vital, the document said, \u201cto adopt additional measures to strengthen overall Russian civic identity\u201d, entrench use of Russian and act against \u201cefforts by unfriendly foreign states to destabilise inter-ethnic and inter-confessional relations and create a split in society\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kremlin adviser responds to leak <\/p>\n
The Kremlin\u2019s adviser has also responded to reports of the leaked call.<\/p>\n
\u201cI speak fairly often with Witkoff, but the content of those conversations is confidential,\u201d Yuri Ushakov said in comments to Russian TV.<\/p>\n
He said such reports risked damaging US-Russian ties, which \u201care being built, with difficulty\u201d, but mainly through phone calls.<\/p>\n
Trump defends Witkoff after call leaked <\/p>\n
President Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday<\/p>\n
ANNA ROSE LAYDEN\/FILE PHOTO\/REUTERS<\/p>\n
President Trump defended his envoy after a call between Steve Witkoff and Yuri Ushakov, Putin\u2019s foreign policy aide, was leaked to the media.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the call, first reported by Bloomberg, represented a \u201cvery standard form of negotiations\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ukraine accepts \u2018core terms\u2019 of peace proposal<\/p>\n
Ukraine has said it accepts the \u201ccore terms\u201d of a peace proposal, but doubts remain about President Putin\u2019s willingness to end the war.<\/p>\n
Kyiv\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe,\u201d President Zelensky said on Tuesday. \u201cBecause when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
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