Russia said Monday that Ukraine must withdraw its remaining forces from parts of the eastern Donbas region it still controls if it wants a peace agreement, warning that failure to do so would result in further territorial losses.
The statement came as the Kremlin confirmed continued high level contact between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, a day after the two leaders spoke by phone ahead of Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Miami.
The remarks underline Moscow’s hard line on territory at a moment when diplomatic activity has intensified around possible negotiations to end the war.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine must remove its forces from areas of Donbas still under Kyiv’s control as a precondition for peace.
“We are talking about the withdrawal of the regime’s armed forces from the Donbas,” Peskov said when asked to clarify comments by Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov on decisions facing Kyiv.
Peskov declined to specify whether the demand extended to other regions partially occupied by Russian forces, including Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, saying it would be inappropriate to discuss details publicly.
He also refused to comment on proposals under discussion related to a free economic zone in Donbas or the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been under Russian control since early in the war.
The Kremlin confirmed that Putin and Trump spoke on Sunday and said another call was expected soon, though no date was provided.
The conversation took place shortly before Trump’s scheduled talks with Zelenskiy in Miami, part of Washington’s effort to assess the feasibility of a negotiated settlement.
Peskov said there were no plans for direct talks between Putin and Zelenskiy at this stage.
He also paraphrased Trump’s public comments suggesting that Ukraine risks losing more territory in the coming months if it does not reach a deal with Moscow.
Russia currently controls roughly one fifth of Ukraine, according to Russian estimates. That includes Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, about ninety percent of Donbas, and large parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as smaller areas in Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk.
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Moscow claims Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson as part of Russia following staged referendums in 2022, a move rejected by Kyiv and most of the international community, which continues to recognize the regions as Ukrainian territory.
The Kremlin’s latest comments reinforce that territorial withdrawal by Ukraine remains central to Russia’s negotiating position, even as diplomatic channels between Moscow and Washington stay active.