Overview

• Speaking in Tianjin, Vladimir Putin said the crisis stems from a 2014 coup in Ukraine and Western efforts to bring Kyiv into NATO.
• Putin reiterated that any peace deal would require Ukraine to cede territory, framing concessions as a prerequisite for negotiations.
• He claimed unspecified “understandings” with President Donald Trump from their Alaska meeting that he suggested could support a path to talks.
• The address came at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathering attended by Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi, where leaders promoted a multipolar world order.
• Ukrainian authorities reported two civilians killed in Zaporizhzhia overnight, and Russian media reported Ukrainian drone strikes in Kropotkin in Russia’s Krasnodar region.