Putin rejects compromise on Ukraine demands, offers brief frontline ceasefire

Vladimir Putin told US envoys Russia would not soften its demands during talks at the Kremlin on Thursday.

Those demands include control of parts of Ukraine that Moscow claims to have annexed, and Putin rejected foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.

He proposed a temporary ceasefire in the frontline city of Kostyantynivka to allow a humanitarian mission; Russia says it captured the city, while Ukraine says fighting continues.

Russia has seized territory in eastern and southern Ukraine since its full-scale offensive began in 2022, and Kyiv and Western countries reject Moscow’s annexations as illegal.

The dispute over territory and peacekeepers is a major obstacle to a lasting settlement, with Putin saying foreign troops would mean a continuation of the war.

The US envoys are due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin after the Kremlin talks, and Washington has urged Russia to include European representatives in the next round.