Putin threatens Ukraine with losing more lands. “US plan can be the basis for peace”

The American peace plan may be the basis for the “final peaceful settlement” of the conflict, said Russian leader Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Friday.

“I think that it (the American plan-PAP) can also become the basis for the final peaceful settlement” of the conflict, said Putin, quoted by Russian media.

Russian leader he also threatened to take over additional lands in Ukraineif it rejects the US peace plan.

“If Kyiv does not want to discuss President (US Donald) Trump's proposals (…), both they and the European warmongers should be aware that the events that took place in Kupyansk will inevitably be repeated on other sections of the front,” he said.

He thus referred to the claim of the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, that Russian forces had taken control of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv Oblast. This was later denied by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, assuring that Kupyansk was still under the control of Ukrainian forces.

Putin also stated that the US peace plan has not been discussed substantively with Russia, and he assumes he knows why.

“The reason, I think, is still the same: the US administration still fails to gain the acceptance of the Ukrainian side. Ukraine is opposed. Apparently, Ukraine and its European allies are still living in illusion and dream of inflicting a strategic defeat on the battlefield on Russia,” he said.

On Thursday, Axios published details of the 28-point peace plan for Ukraine negotiated by the US and Russia. According to it, Kyiv is to undertake, among others: not to join NATO, limiting the number of troops to 600,000. soldiers and giving Russia part of the territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will state on Friday that Ukraine is cooperating calmly and responsibly with the US and partners regarding the plan proposed by Washington. He assured that he would present arguments and propose alternatives, without giving Russia any reason to claim that it does not want peace.

He also announced that he had held a conversation with the leaders of France, Great Britain and Germany – President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chancellor Friedrich Merz – about a “peace plan for Ukraine and all of Europe.” “We are working in close coordination to ensure that the essential elements of the position are taken into account. We have coordinated the next steps and agreed that teams at the appropriate levels will work together,” he noted. (PAP)

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