Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that future talks on a settlement of the war in Ukraine should focus on security guarantees for both countries and an overall framework for security throughout Europe.
Putin, interviewed on Russian television a day after meeting US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, confirmed that Russia was ready to resume US-mediated talks with Ukraine next month.
He restated longstanding Kremlin policy that Russia never wanted to launch a war, but had run into hostile reactions from Ukraine on key issues of concern to Moscow.
Talks on a variety of matters could lead to a positive outcome, he said, but Russia remained intent on a solution ending the conflict rather than a short-lived ceasefire.
"The goal of these talks will be to ensure the security of Ukraine and Russia after reaching peace agreements, in their final form, not as a result of a temporary ceasefire for some short period of time. We are ready to resume these contacts to achieve this goal," Putin said.
Witkoff says Ukraine supports 'any proposals for a ceasefire'
The Russian president said Witkoff also stressed that discussions had to extend to "the architecture of European security as a whole. And I agree with that too. Well, let's see how things develop in the coming days."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who met Witkoff in Norway on Tuesday, said Ukraine was ready for talks likely to take place by early next month. Ukraine, he said, supported "any proposals for a ceasefire, an end to the war, an energy ceasefire as well as humanitarian initiatives."
Efforts headed by the United States to pursue talks stalled in February with the outbreak of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.
Many of the Ukraine war issues focus on territory, with Russia demanding Ukraine cede all of eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. Kyiv rejects any notion of giving up land it currently holds.
In his comments, Putin said any discussion on territory in eastern Ukraine had to consider what he said was the fact that the area was "historically Russian land."
And residents there, he said, had voted to be a part of Russia in referendums staged seven months after Moscow launched its invasion.
"Firstly, my attitude on this matter is that this is not their territory. It’s the territory of historical Russia," he said.
Russia strikes Ukraine despite openness to peace talks
Russia pounded Kyiv with ballistic missiles, and Ukraine sent hundreds of drones towards Moscow on Thursday, as the warring sides kept up a barrage of attacks despite the latest US push to end the conflict.
US President Donald Trump said SpaceX SPCX.O CEO Elon Musk had restored Ukraine's Starlink access, one of the issues linked to a rift between Washington and Kyiv that has cast doubt on US support for Ukraine.
Ukraine said Russia fired at least 21 ballistic missiles in three waves. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said three carried cluster munitions — "bomblets" that disperse over a wide area and are banned by many countries because of the danger to civilians. Russia's defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russia said Ukraine launched 630 drones towards Moscow during the night.
The two sides held an exchange of war dead, with Moscow handing over 252 bodies and Ukraine handing over 25, according to the Belta state news agency in neighboring Belarus. Such exchanges have accompanied moves towards talks in the past.