Russia may withdraw from negotiations if Ukraine does not cede territories - Bloomberg

Russia may announce its withdrawal from peace talks on Ukraine if Kyiv does not agree to make territorial concessions. The United States will seek Ukraine's abandonment of Donbas in exchange for freezing the war along the current line and Russia's renunciation of claims to the parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions controlled by Ukraine. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources, according to UNN.

Details

Russian officials increasingly believe there is no point in continuing US-led peace talks with Ukraine if Kyiv is not prepared to cede territory to reach an agreement

Sources note that the talks scheduled for next week will be crucial for whether the parties can agree on terms for ending the war.

Russia is likely to withdraw from the talks if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not make a concession. Russia is ready to sign a draft memorandum on a peace agreement if Ukraine agrees to withdraw troops from the eastern Donetsk region

Sources emphasize that after the memorandum is signed, a presidential summit between Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Zelenskyy must take place to confirm the agreement, which will lead to the mutual withdrawal of Russian and Ukrainian armies.

The publication notes that Russia is ready to withdraw troops from the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions of Ukraine, as well as the Dnipropetrovsk region, as part of the agreement, and will not insist on demands for increased territory in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

According to the source, Russia will agree to US-led ceasefire monitoring, although it will not accept any foreign troops in Ukraine, and will also abandon the demand to limit the size of the Ukrainian army.

The future of Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is also still in question. Russia supports a tripartite division of electricity production at the plant between the US and Ukraine, while Kyiv supports a 50-50 split with the US, which would have the right to freely share electricity supplies with Moscow.

Recall

The military working group, within the framework of the latest rounds of trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia, has completed about 90% of the necessary work, but the completion of the process currently hinges on political decisions.