The Kremlin has announced a possible withdrawal from negotiations without compromise: details from Bloomberg
28 February 15:07
The Russian side has announced that it may withdraw from the US-mediated peace talks if Ukraine does not agree to cede part of its territory in order to reach an agreement to end the war.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Bloomberg.
The talks, scheduled for next week, could be decisive in determining whether the parties can agree on the terms for ending the war. Two sources close to the Kremlin told the publication that Moscow is considering withdrawing from the process if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky does not agree to territorial concessions. They noted that this primarily concerns the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from part of the Donetsk region.
According to the publication, Russia is ready to sign a draft memorandum on a peace agreement if Kyiv agrees to these terms. This could be followed by a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to confirm the agreements. In this case, a mutual withdrawal of troops would be expected.
After a telephone conversation with Donald Trump, Zelensky announced that the parties had agreed that the next round of negotiations with Russia should “create an opportunity to move to the level of leaders.” The negotiations are expected to take place on March 4-5.
According to the publication’s sources, Russia is ready to withdraw its troops from the northeastern regions of Ukraine: Sumy and Kharkiv regions, as well as part of Dnipropetrovsk region, within the framework of the agreements. At the same time, Moscow will not insist on additional territorial claims in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russia would also agree to monitoring of the ceasefire under the auspices of the US, but opposes the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine. In addition, it is ready to abandon its demand to limit the size of the Ukrainian army.
