Putin insists Ukraine must withdraw from land it holds

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the draft peace proposals discussed by the United States and Ukraine could become the basis of future agreements to end the conflict in Ukraine.

But he said Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they hold.

Speaking in Kyrzgstan, after a summit with the leaders of a grouping of former Soviet republics, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters the discussions about ending the war in Ukraine were so far not about a draft agreement of any kind but about sets of issues.

He said in their talks in Geneva, "the US and Ukraine had decided to divide up the 28 points into four separate components and that a copy had been transmitted to Moscow."

Putin said "in general Russia agrees this could be the basis for future agreements."

He added Moscow "sees the US has taken Russia's position into account."

Putin stressed some things still needed to be discussed and that it was "complete nonsense" to suggest Russia would attack other countries in Europe.

He said: "Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories theyhold, and then the fighting will cease. If they don't leave, then Russia shall achieve this by armed means."

Putin said he considered the Ukrainian leadership to be illegitimate and so it was legally impossible to sign a deal with Kyiv.

He said it was "therefore important, he said, to ensure that any agreement was recognised by the international community and the international community recognised Russian gains in Ukraine."

He said the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and the eastern Donbas region should be a topic for discussions with the US.

He added US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff plans to visit Moscow early next week.

Commenting on the leak of a recording of a call between top advisers to Trump and Putin, the Kremlin chief rejected the suggestion Witkoff had shown himself to be biased towards Moscow in peace talks over Ukraine, describing it as "nonsense."