Putin says US-backed peace plan as framework is OK 'in general'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed optimism about a draft peace plan backed by the United States for Ukraine, stating that it could serve as a basis for a future agreement that Russia is ready for 'serious' discussion. Speaking to reporters on Thursday during a state visit to Kyrgyzstan, Putin acknowledged that the United States had taken Russia's position into account in the negotiations, but said there were still some issues to resolve. 'In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,' he said regarding the draft plan. The Russian leader also confirmed that U.S. special envoy Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Moscow soon for further talks, which he said should focus on Donbas and Crimea, controlled by Russia. Last week, the United States unveiled a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine that was largely seen as too favorable to Russia, including the demand that Kyiv make significant territorial concessions and abandon its NATO ambitions. Since then, the plan has been altered with Ukraine's involvement, removing a cap of 600,000 members in the Ukrainian army and a general amnesty for war crimes, said Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergiy Kyslytsya. However, the full details of the latest proposal have not been disclosed. In his latest comments, Putin said there is no final version of the plan to discuss. The chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Andriy Yermak, said on Thursday that U.S. and Ukrainian officials will continue to work on the plan. Despite Putin's apparent openness to an agreement, he insisted that Russia is willing to continue fighting in the nearly four-year war that has killed or injured hundreds of thousands on both sides if Ukraine does not relinquish key territory. 'Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they occupy, and then the fighting will cease. If they do not leave, then we will achieve this by armed means. That's all,' Putin said, asserting that Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine at a faster pace. The Russian leader also stated that any future agreement must recognize Russia's territorial gains in Ukraine and be accepted by the international community, adding that he considers the current leadership of Ukraine illegitimate. Putin's comments come on the same day that a Russian court issued a verdict in a deadly truck bomb attack in 2022 claimed by Ukrainian intelligence services. The military court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don imposed life sentences on eight men accused of assisting Ukrainian intelligence in carrying out the attack, which destroyed a bridge connecting southern Russia with Crimea, annexed by Russia, and damaged what was a key supply route for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. The bridge, seen by both Ukraine and Russia as a symbol of Moscow's seizure and annexation of Crimea in 2014, was personally inaugurated by Putin in 2018. The defendants in the case, convicted of 'terrorism' and arms trafficking, maintained their innocence.