The Kremlin welcomes Donald Trump’s optimism after his meeting with Zelensky, but territorial concessions remain an insurmountable obstacle. Moscow conditions the end of the fighting on the departure of Ukrainians from the entire Donbas.
Ukrainian forces should withdraw from the parts of Donbas they still control, and only then can the fighting stop. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this on Monday, according to the TASS agency. According to him, Moscow agrees with US President Donald Trump that peace in Ukraine is now much closer than before. Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak with Trump soon, a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not being considered at the moment, Peskov also said. This is reported by TASR according to a Reuters report.
- Ukrainian and Russian forces are still fighting for the territory of Donbass.
- Moscow demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbas region.
- Different opinions on territorial issues prevent the achievement of peace.
Territorial issues remain a problem
Trump held talks with Zelensky at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida on Sunday and announced that much progress had been made. According to him, one or two delicate issues, including territorial ones, on which Russia and Ukraine have different opinions, are unresolved and negotiations will continue on them.
Specifically, the American president was referring to the Donbas region in the east of Ukraine, which Russia wants to take under its control, which is one of its conditions for ending the war. Ukraine refuses to accept this condition.
Russian conditions
Peskov said that Moscow is considering ending the conflict in the context of achieving its goals. He also declared that in order to stop the fighting, it is necessary for Ukraine to decide to withdraw its troops beyond the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together form Donbas. According to TASS, he refused to answer the question whether Moscow also demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
Before the meeting with Zelensky, Trump also initiated a phone call with his Russian counterpart and said that they would also talk after the meeting.
