Overview
- Putin reiterated that fighting would stop only if Ukrainian forces withdraw from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, warning Russia would otherwise take the territory by force.
- Ukraine’s chief negotiator Andriy Yermak said no one in Kyiv will sign away territory, as Ukrainian and U.S. teams work from a shorter framework refined in Geneva.
- Moscow says it received the plan’s main parameters and plans talks with U.S. representatives in the first half of next week, with Steve Witkoff expected to attend.
- Hostilities continue, with Russia reporting 136 Ukrainian drones intercepted over multiple regions and Ukraine claiming a strike on an oil refinery in Saratov.
- Hungary’s Viktor Orbán met Putin in Moscow to secure additional oil and gas following a U.S. sanctions exemption, highlighting European divisions over the talks.