Russia ready for talks on plans for final Ukraine deal, not truce: Putin

Blowing hot and cold, Vladimir Putin said he welcomed trilateral peace talks with Kiev and Washington, even raising the prospect of permanently ending the conflict in Ukraine. Yet in the same interview, the Russian president reiterated his long-standing position on Donbass, a clear red line for Volodymyr Zelensky. First of all, my take on this matter is that this is not their territory. It is the territory of historical Russia. Russia. In any case, we will accomplish our tasks, and all the objectives of the special military operation will be met." The comments came amid a renewed push by Washington to bring the warring sides to the negotiating table, with US envoy Steve Witkoff meeting both Putin and Zelensky in recent days. The Ukrainian president said he also supported the talks, and that he was ready to freeze the conflict along the current front line, but once again rejected the idea of giving up any additional territory to Russia. Meanwhile, Kyiv was struck by a wave of ballistic missiles on Thursday, killing several people, and drawing more criticism from Zelensky, who said the attack showed Russia's position remained unchanged. A perspective shared by many Kyiv residents. Everyone hopes that this war will end, but how? I cannot see any sign that it is coming to an end. Relations between Kiev and Washington have plummeted in recent weeks after Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel and waived sanctions on Moscow. Ukraine also recently experienced limitations on Starlink, which it uses for battlefield communications and drone operations. But the White House said Thursday the system was back up in the country.