Putin says Trump’s proposals to end Russia’s war against Ukraine require ‘difficult decisions’
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Vladimir Putin (Photo: REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov)
Vladimir Putin said U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposals to end Russia’s war against Ukraine would require “difficult” decisions for Moscow, speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club on Oct. 1.
Putin claimed that despite the “difficult decisions” contained in Trump’s proposals, the Kremlin “understands that this is a move in the right direction.” He also said Russia wants to receive “security guarantees” and conditions for “peace over the long term.”
The Kremlin leader claimed that Russia wants “to end all of this as soon as possible through peaceful negotiations,” but only if a series of ultimatums are met. He again cited the occupation of the entire Donbas and Ukraine’s neutral status. Putin claimed that Russia is winning on the battlefield and could seize the entire Donbas “much sooner” than within 18 months to two years, but would prefer Ukraine to surrender the territory.
According to Putin, if Ukraine agrees to terms that are also acceptable to Russia, “then it would probably be better to put an end to these difficult events.”
Putin also claimed that he had been ready to resume negotiations immediately after Russia’s State Duma “elections” and sought to justify his refusal to negotiate by citing Ukrainian strikes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23 that the Russian military lost 248,964 troops killed or seriously wounded on the battlefield in Ukraine from January through August this year. Despite those losses, Russia managed to capture only slightly more than 1,000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory this year, much of which Ukraine has since liberated, Zelenskyy said.
In late June, Zelenskyy said Russia had postponed its “deadline” for capturing the Donetsk region for the 15th time, this time setting Dec. 31 as the new target date.
In late September, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said Putin’s new strategy was to use large-scale combined strikes on Ukraine in an effort to force Kyiv to capitulate by spring 2027.
On Sept. 5, U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner again met with Putin in Russia. The following day, they traveled to Ukraine for the first time to take part in negotiations aimed at ending the war.
Speaking by video at the YES forum in Kyiv on Sept. 12, Kushner said most of the terms of a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia had been agreed upon, with a “creative” solution still needed to resolve territorial disputes.
“Putin has clearly outlined what he wants to achieve. If Ukraine wanted to withdraw to that line, then, of course. As you understand, we already have the rest of the terms of the agreement — they have been developed and agreed upon. Ukraine does not want to do that right now,” Kushner said.
On Sept. 24, Zelenskyy said the negotiating process had already moved beyond questions of “Ukraine’s neutrality” and the agreements reached in Anchorage under the “3+2” format.
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