Russian chief underscores Kremlin’s hardline stance on peace talks as Trump pushes for deal to finish battle.
Revealed On 19 Dec 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin, talking at his extremely choreographed annual question-and-answer session in Moscow, has mentioned his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuses to debate territorial concessions.
The feedback have been made on Friday through the “Outcomes of the 12 months” occasion, the place Putin fielded questions from tens of millions of Russians on matters starting from home coverage to the war.
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Putin’s remarks are the most recent in a drumbeat of often-repeated maximalist Russian positions almost 4 years after he ordered troops into the neighbouring nation, as United States President Donald Trump intensifies diplomatic efforts to dealer a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
The problem of territory gained, misplaced, to be ceded or not, delves into the center of the matter on one of the crucial contentious points within the talks to finish the battle up to now.
“We all know from statements from Zelenskyy that he’s not ready to debate territory points,” Putin instructed attendees on the occasion within the capital’s Gostiny Dvor exhibition corridor. Zelenskyy has certainly acknowledged that clearly, however Ukraine’s structure additionally forbids the ceding of land.
Putin has demanded Ukraine cede all territory in 4 key areas his forces have captured and occupied, together with Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014.
He additionally desires Ukrainian troops to withdraw from components of japanese Ukraine that Russian forces haven’t but taken within the japanese Donetsk area, the place preventing stays attritional – situations Kyiv has rejected outright.
Putin projected confidence about battlefield progress, saying Russian forces had “totally seized strategic initiative” and would make additional positive aspects earlier than the 12 months ends.
Moscow’s bigger military has made regular advances in current months, seizing between 12 and 17 sq. kilometres (4.5 and 6.6 sq. miles) each day in 2025, in accordance with Western assessments.
The Russian president additionally attacked Western dealing with of frozen Russian property, labelling plans to make use of them for Ukraine as “theft” reasonably than theft as a result of it was being carried out overtly.
“No matter they stole, they’ll have to present it again sometime,” he mentioned, pledging to pursue authorized motion in courts he described as “unbiased of political selections”.
European Union leaders agreed to provide a hefty $105bn interest-free loan to Ukraine to fulfill its navy and financial wants in its battle with Russia for the following two years, EU Council President Antonio Costa mentioned.
The leaders determined early on Friday to borrow money on capital markets to fund Ukraine’s defence in opposition to Russia reasonably than use frozen Russian property, diplomats mentioned.
The annual occasion, which Putin has held in numerous codecs since 2001, drew about three million questions from Russians by way of telephone, textual content and on-line platforms. A synthetic intelligence system processed the queries to determine frequent themes.
Putin’s feedback come at a pivotal second, and are watched carefully by Western officers who will need to get a learn on how he intends to current the scenario on the bottom to the Russian public.
Trump has launched a serious diplomatic push to finish almost 4 years of preventing, however negotiations have stalled over sharply conflicting calls for from Moscow and Kyiv.
US officers estimate that Russia and Ukraine have suffered greater than two million casualties since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022. Neither aspect discloses dependable loss figures.
