Russian President Vladimir Putin has said recent talks with United States negotiators over ending the war with Ukraine were \u201cvery useful\u201d, while doubling down on the maximalist demands and territorial designs that are standing in the way of a solution.<\/p>\n
In advance of a trip to New Delhi<\/a> on Thursday, Putin told India Today TV that he planned to seize control of Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donbas region by force, confirming Kremlin reports that no consensus<\/a> had been reached in the previous day\u2019s talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n \u201cIt all boils down to this: either we will liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories and stop fighting there,\u201d he said in comments from the interview that were carried by state news agency Tass on Thursday.<\/p>\n Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the Donbas, comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.<\/p>\n His renewed determination to take the region appeared to pour cold water on US President Donald Trump\u2019s earlier assertion that Witkoff and Kushner had thought the Russian leader wanted \u201cto end the war\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir impression was very strongly that he\u2019d like to make a deal,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Putin\u2019s comments came amid reports that special envoy Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law Kushner will meet top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov in Florida on Thursday as a follow-up to the five hours of talks in Moscow on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Embattled Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been bogged down by Russia\u2019s advance and a domestic corruption scandal<\/a>, maintains that he does not have the power to sign away Ukrainian territory and that Russia should, in any case, not be rewarded for its invasion. The Ukrainian constitution also forbids the ceding of territory.<\/p>\n 28-point plan \u2018still valid\u2019<\/p>\n In discussions with the US over the outline of a possible peace deal to end the war, Russia has repeatedly said it wants control over the whole Donbas and that Washington should informally recognise Moscow\u2019s control.<\/p>\n The Kremlin narrative appeared to have been in the ascendancy when Trump released his 28-point plan to end the war, which initially envisioned Ukraine ceding the entire Donbas, limiting the size of its military, and giving up on joining NATO.<\/p>\n But following intense criticism of what many saw as a Moscow wish list, Ukrainian negotiators pushed for revisions during talks in Geneva<\/a>, Switzerland, paring back the original draft to 19 points.<\/p>\n It was unclear following the Moscow talks which version of the draft had been discussed. Putin\u2019s aide Yury Ushakov had earlier said several documents were being discussed.<\/p>\n