Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected the idea of establishing demilitarized “grey zones” as part of a potential Ukraine peace deal and restated his long-standing objection to a Western troop presence in Ukraine.
Putin made the comments at the opening of a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who visited Moscow following trilateral talks between US, Russian, and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi.
“We know that the Ukrainian side is raising the issue of so-called ‘grey zones‘. As I have already said, this will always be a bone of contention. For us, there is only one line of demarcation – the state border. That would make things perfectly clear. You are on one side and we are on the other,” Putin said, according to a transcript of his remarks released by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“As soon as we get drawn into discussions about ‘grey zones,’ each side understands them differently. Disputes arise immediately, any agreement becomes shaky and there can be no lasting peace,” the Russian leader added.
He also suggested that a local, humanitarian ceasefire could be held around a town in the Donbas similar to the local truce that was recently held to aid civilians in the frontline Kherson town of Oleshky.
“There is a town in Donbas called Konstantinovka. The Ukrainian side considers it part of its strategic line of defense. Some 400-500 civilians are still there. Let us do what we did in Alyoshki (Oleshky),” Putin said.
Regarding the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine as part of a future peace deal, Putin criticized European leaders who are pushing for it despite Moscow’s repeated rejections.
“We have said from the outset that the presence of any foreign troops on Ukrainian territory is absolutely unacceptable to us because we believe it threatens Russia’s security. Everyone agreed on that in principle. At any rate, that was the understanding at the talks in Istanbul, and until now no one seems to have objected,” he said.
“The Europeans know this. Yet what do we hear from them? That as soon as peace is concluded, they will send troops into Ukraine. What does that mean? We have said this before. We would regard those troops as a legitimate target, which means the war would resume immediately,” Putin added.
While a major prisoner exchange was agreed to during the Abu Dhabi talks, there was no clear breakthrough toward a peace deal. During the first day of talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea of ceding the Donbas, which has been a key Russian demand.
