Russia said it was ready to negotiate with Ukraine, but that recognition of Moscow’s claims over five Ukrainian regions including Crimea were “imperative” to resolving the conflict.
Since launching its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, Russia has seized large parts of four Ukrainian regions and claimed them as its own, in addition to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Ukraine has denounced the annexations as an illegal land grab and says it will never recognise them, while European officials have warned that accepting Moscow’s demands set a dangerous precedent that could lead to future aggression.
“The Russian side has repeatedly confirmed its readiness, as confirmed by the president, to begin negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media.
But when asked if there were indeed preconditions that Russia required to sit down with Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “International recognition of Russia’s ownership of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is imperative.”
Mr Lavrov made the comments in an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo, published by the Russian foreign ministry.
US President Donald Trump said earlier he believed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to concede Crimea as part of a ceasefire deal, as talks on a truce entered what Washington called a “critical” week.
Mr Trump, who boasted before his inauguration that he could halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine within one day, has launched a diplomatic offensive to stop the fighting since taking office in January.
He cast doubt on Saturday over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted an end to the war, which has devastated swathes of eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands of people.
Last night, Russia launched drone and missile attacks, killing four people in regions across eastern Ukraine and wounding more than a dozen.
“I want him to stop shooting, sit down, and sign a deal,” Mr Trump said last night in response to a question on what he wanted from Mr Putin.
“We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it,” Mr Trump added, likely referring to a US-proposed peace plan.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the importance of the week ahead.
“We’re close, but we’re not close enough” to a deal to halt the fighting, Mr Rubio told broadcaster NBC.
“I think this is going to be a very critical week.”
The White House has said that without rapid progress, it could walk away from its role as a broker.
Mr Trump indicated that he would give the process “two weeks”.
Crimea crucial in talks
The US has not revealed details of its peace plan, but has suggested freezing the front line and accepting Russian control of Crimea in exchange for peace.
Mr Trump said he thought Mr Zelensky was ready to concede Crimea, despite the Ukrainian leader repeatedly saying he never would.
“Oh, I think so,” said Mr Trump in response to a question on whether he thought Mr Zelensky was ready to “give up” the Black Sea peninsula.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, claims to have annexed four eastern and southern territories of the war-battered country since then, despite not having full military control over them.
Russia holds about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea.
Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that Ukraine should not agree to all territorial concessions to Russia reportedly set out in the deal proposed by Mr Trump.
“Ukraine has, of course, known for some time that a sustainable, credible ceasefire or peace agreement may involve territorial concessions,” he told broadcaster ARD.
“But these will certainly not go… as far as they do in the latest proposal from the US president,” Mr Pistorius said.
Mr Rubio had a phone call yesterday with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the foreign ministry in Moscow said.
The pair “emphasised the importance of consolidating the emerging prerequisites for starting negotiations in order to agree on a reliable path to long-term sustainable peace”, a statement said.
