Putin warns Russia will extend gains in Ukraine if peace talks fail

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin's demands in peace talks.

Speaking at an annual meeting with top military officers on Wednesday, he said Moscow would prefer to achieve its goals and “eliminate the root causes of the conflict” by diplomatic means.

But he said that “if the opposing side and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive dialogue, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means”.

US President Donald Trump is pushing hard for a peace deal to end nearly four years of fighting with began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

However, Washington is facing sharply conflicting demands by both Moscow and Kyiv.

"We are ready to hold talks and to resolve all the issues that have arisen in recent years by peaceful means. The U.S. administration is showing such readiness, and we are conducting dialogue with them. I hope the same will happen with Europe," Putin told the meeting.

But Putin added that negotiating peace with the Europeans was "unlikely" with the “current political elites”.

"But in any case it will become inevitable as we continue to strengthen. If not with the current politicians, then with a change of political elites in Europe," he said.

Kyvi and its European allies regard Russia's actions as a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and an unprovoked act of aggression.

Putin claimed that the Russian army “has seized and is firmly holding strategic initiative all along the front line”.

He warned that Moscow would move to expand a “buffer security zone” alongside the Russian border.

Putin also praised Russia's growing military might and particularly noted the modernisation of its atomic arsenal.

His tough statements follow several rounds of talks this week between Ukrainian, American and European officials on a US.-drafted peace plan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting with US envoys in Berlin that the document could be finalised within days, after which it will be presented to the Kremlin.

Putin wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognised as Russian territory.

He also has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow's forces have not yet captured.

The Kremlin also insists that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and warns it won’t accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and will view them as a “legitimate target".

Zelenskyy has expressed readiness to drop Ukraine’s bid to join NATO if the US and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members.

At the same time, Zelenskyy has rejected Moscow’s demands that it pull back its troops from other areas that Russia has not been able to take by force.