![\"Soldiers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/\/e4d95a0b-793f-48c3-b0b6-fb3387d2d4c9.jpg\")
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Troops rehearse evacuating casualties during war games in central France this month<\/p>\n
THOMAS SAMSON\/AFP<\/p>\n
Questions to answer before final deal, says Putin<\/p>\n
President Putin said at a press conference in Kyrgyzstan that there were \u201cno final versions\u201d of an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, but rather a series of questions to address.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt would be impolite on my part to to speak now about some kind of final versions,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause there aren\u2019t any.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that negotiations should proceed in \u201cdiplomatic language\u201d.<\/p>\n
US sanctions \u2018destroying relations with Russia\u2019<\/p>\n
President Putin has said he was \u201csurprised\u201d by American sanctions against Russian oil companies.<\/p>\n
Last month the US imposed its toughest sanctions yet on the Russian energy sector, targeting the oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft.<\/p>\n
Putin said that sanctions were destroying Russian relations with the US, adding that the Russian government was developing a package of retaliatory measures in case of \u201cconfiscation of Russian assets in Europe\u201d, a reference to the European Union\u2019s attempts to use some assets frozen under sanctions to support the Ukrainian war effort.<\/p>\n
Putin: Witkoff is not biased towards Russia<\/p>\n
President Putin has rejected the suggestion that the American envoy Steve Witkoff had shown himself to be biased towards Moscow in peace talks over Ukraine, describing the claim as nonsense.<\/p>\n
Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow next week to meet Putin, but he attracted more criticism in Europe and the US this week<\/a> after appearing in a leaked recording of a phone call to have advised the Kremlin on how to approach peace negotiations.<\/p>\n Putin told reporters it would have been surprising if Witkoff had thrown obscenities at Russia during the conversation. \u201cThis is nonsense,\u201d he said, describing Witkoff as an American citizen who had defended the interests of his country. <\/p>\n Kyiv must withdraw \u2018or Russia will take land by force\u2019<\/p>\n President Putin has said Russia will end its offensive in Ukraine if Kyiv withdraws from territory that Russia claims as its own \u2014 but will otherwise take it by force.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,\u201d Putin said. \u201cIf they don\u2019t, then we will achieve it by military means.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump-backed plan \u2018can be basis for deal\u2019<\/p>\n President Putin has said Russia agrees that the US-backed plan can be used as a basis for future agreements, but added that European security needed discussion.<\/p>\n Asked whether he knew who would represent the US at talks in Moscow next week, he said: \u201cIt\u2019s clearly up to the president of the United States, we are waiting for them next week.\u201d<\/p>\n Talks to hinge on 19-point plan<\/p>\n President Putin is speaking more than a week after President Trump<\/a>\u2019s envoy Steve Witkoff drafted a 28-point peace plan<\/a> that initially alarmed Kyiv and many European allies due to perceived concessions to Moscow.<\/p>\n