Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that U.S. proposals for peace in Ukraine could be the basis of a resolution of the conflict but that if Kyiv turned down the plan then Russian forces would advance further,
Reuters reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was giving Ukraine until Thursday to accept a U.S. peace plan which endorses key Russian demands on NATO, territory and recognition of Russian controlled regions.
"I believe that it can be used as the basis for a final peaceful settlement," Putin told senior officials at a meeting of the Russian Security Council, which is like a modern-day politburo of Russia's most powerful officials.
Putin added that the 28-point plan had not been discussed in detail yet with the United States, but that Moscow had received a copy of it.
Putin said that Ukraine was against the plan but that neither Kyiv nor European powers understood the reality that Russian forces were advancing in Ukraine and would continue to advance unless there was peace.
Russia controls just over 19% of Ukraine, or 115,500 square km, up just one percentage point from two years ago. Moscow wants to gain control of all of the Donbas, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the whole of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
