Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has said his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuses to discuss territorial concessions, hardening positions as diplomatic efforts to end the war grind on.
Speaking on Friday at his annual Results of the Year question and answer session in Moscow, Putin told a packed audience that Kyiv was unwilling to engage on one of the most sensitive issues in the conflict. “We know from statements from Zelenskyy that he is not prepared to discuss territory issues,” Putin said, according to Al Jazeera.
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The remarks underline the depth of the divide nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even as United States President Donald Trump steps up efforts to broker a ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv.
The territory lies at the centre of the stalled talks. Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede all land in four regions partly occupied by Russian forces, as well as Crimea, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014. Putin has also called for Ukrainian troops to withdraw from areas of eastern Ukraine that Russian forces have not fully captured, conditions Kyiv has rejected outright. Ukraine’s constitution forbids the ceding of land.
Putin struck a confident tone on the battlefield, claiming Russian forces had “fully seized strategic initiative” and would continue to advance before the end of the year. Western assessments say Russia’s larger army has made steady gains in recent months, capturing between 12 and 17 square kilometres a day in 2025.
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The Russian leader also criticised Western plans to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, calling the move “robbery”. “Whatever they stole, they will have to give it back someday,” he said, pledging legal action through courts he described as independent, according to Al Jazeera.
Earlier on Friday, European Union leaders agreed to provide Ukraine with a $105bn interest-free loan to cover military and economic needs over the next two years. Diplomats said the funds would be raised on capital markets rather than taken directly from frozen Russian assets.
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The annual event, held in various formats since 2001, drew around three million questions from Russians via phone, text and online platforms. An artificial intelligence system filtered the submissions to identify the most common themes.
Putin’s comments come at a pivotal moment. Western officials are closely watching how he frames the war to the Russian public as Trump pushes for a negotiated end to the fighting. Despite that pressure, talks remain deadlocked by sharply conflicting demands.
United States officials estimate that more than 2 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the invasion began in February 2022. Neither side publishes reliable casualty figures.
