Russian President Vladimir Putin [Getty Images]
Russian President Vladimir Putin [Getty Images]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday (local time) that he wants a final peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, not a short-term truce.

According to Reuters, Putin made the remarks in an interview with Russian media, saying he is willing to return to US-brokered peace talks with Ukraine next month.

"The goal of the talks is not a brief, temporary ceasefire but ensuring security for Ukraine and Russia after a final peace deal is concluded," Putin said. "We are ready to resume talks to achieve these goals."

He also repeated his longstanding claim that Russia did not want war but that Ukraine had responded with hostility to Moscow's key concerns.

On the question of eastern Ukraine, Putin said the territory is "historically Russian land" and that any discussions about it must take that fact into account.

He also claimed that residents of the region voted to join Russia in a referendum held seven months after the war began.

Trilateral talks resuming after about 9 months

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky [Getty Images]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky [Getty Images]

If trilateral peace talks among Russia, the United States and Ukraine resume next month, it would mark the first such meeting in about nine months since February.

According to CNN and the Associated Press, Putin met with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Thursday (local time) for about three hours to discuss matters related to the peace negotiations.

Yuri Ushakov, Russia's presidential foreign policy adviser, said in an interview with state broadcaster Russia-24 that the trilateral talks could be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

He said future negotiations would focus on "building a security framework for Russia and Ukraine after the end of the conflict," though he did not specify what conditions Russia would demand.

Ushakov drew a line on the peace proposal that the US, Ukraine, Norway and other European leaders discussed in Oslo on Thursday (local time), saying it contained "almost nothing of substantive value in the context of resolving the Ukraine crisis."

Earlier, US envoy Witkoff had met in Oslo with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders to discuss a new peace proposal put forward by Ukraine. A US official said the meeting represented "meaningful progress."

Russia's dismissal of those discussions, however, suggests that future negotiations will be difficult.


yul@heraldcorp.com