Information from the meeting between Mr. Putin and US special missionary Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg. Petersburg has shown that Russia may be ready to abandon its demand for control of the entire four regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia - areas that Russia has partly controlled and has declared since the early stages of the conflict. However, the Crimean peninsula is not included in the proposal, SCMP reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that Ukraine is ready for negotiations "in any form" after reaching a ceasefire. He stressed that any discussion on peace conditions can only take place after the war ends.
At the same time, he said that the Ukrainian delegation will be authorized to discuss a full or partial ceasefire at a meeting with European and US officials in London, following a meeting in Paris last week.
According to some European sources, Russia's proposal could be just a negotiation strategy, amid increasing pressure from stakeholders.
Another report said the US has proposed a deal that would include recognizing Crimea under Russia and freezing the conflict at current control positions as part of a peace roadmap. However, the proposal was controversial because Ukraine was determined not to recognize it.
Several other complex issues are also hampering the negotiations, including Russia's request that Ukraine maintain its neutrality and not join the NATO military alliance. For its part, Ukraine wishes to deploy an international force to monitor the implementation of the peace agreement, playing a role in ensuring security against the risk of a recurrence of conflict, which Russia has repeatedly denied.
It is expected that this week, high-level meetings between the parties will continue, with the expectation of opening a new direction to end the prolonged war. Ukrainian President Zelensky also said he was ready to meet US President Donald Trump at the funeral of Pope Francis and other heads.
