On December 29, the Kremlin said that Russia expects to have another phone call soon between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump, as discussions related to the conflict in Ukraine continue.
The information was released by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, after the two leaders exchanged phone calls before the meeting between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on December 28.
Mr. Peskov emphasized that if Kiev wants to achieve peace, Ukraine needs to withdraw its forces from the Donbass that they still control. According to the Kremlin spokesman, if Ukraine does not reach an agreement, it risks losing more territory. Russia also declined to go into detail when asked if this request would apply to the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
The Kremlin spokesman also did not comment on the possibility of establishing a free economic zone in Donbass or the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant controlled by Russia, saying that discussions at this time are inappropriate. Mr. Peskov confirmed that there are no plans for a phone call between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky.
According to estimates made by Russia, Moscow currently controls about 1/5 of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea - an area annexed to Russia in 2014 - along with most of Donbass, most of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, as well as some areas in Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk. Russia claims that Donbass, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are part of Russian territory, although most of the international community still considers these areas to belong to Ukraine.
Mr. Peskov also quoted Mr. Trump's assessment that Ukraine could continue to lose more territory in the coming months if no agreement is reached.
The Kremlin affirmed that communication channels between Russia and the US are still being maintained, in which the upcoming phone call between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump is expected to continue discussing the process of finding a solution to the conflict.
