Putin: Peace? Only on my terms

Russian chief's land demands

- BY CHRIS HUGHES

RUSSIAN and Ukrainian peace talks seemed in jeopardy yesterday as the warring sides exchanged drone attacks and Vladimir Putin made outlandish territory demands.

With a 30-day ceasefire mooted, the Russian leader said: "We agree to stop fighting in Ukraine but it should be a long-lasting peace."

His words may have given rise to optimism, but it is believed his demands include global recognition that Crimea, which he annexed from Ukraine in 2014, plus four other key areas of the country, are now part of his Russian Federation.

Putin also demanded that any peace deal must address what he calls the root causes of the war, perhaps referring to his bogus claim that he invaded Ukraine to help people there who want to be Russian.

And he said: "It's necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border"- indicating that Moscow wants to expand its territorial gains even further, by capturing parts of Ukraine's Sumy region.

Sources revealed yesterday that the Kremlin is also demanding that Ukraine cannot be part of Nato, and that there must be no foreign troops in the country.

And Putin seemed unenthusiastic about the US-brokered 30-day pause in hostilities, saying Ukraine might just use it to strengthen its forces.

He was speaking yesterday at a press conference with ally Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, who in 2022 allowed Russia to launch an offensive on Kyiv from Belarusian soil.