President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on Thursday that Russia would take full control of Ukraine's Donbas region by force unless Ukrainian forces withdraw — something Kyiv has flatly rejected.

President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on Thursday that Russia would take full control of Ukraine's Donbas region by force unless Ukrainian forces withdraw, something Kyiv has flatly rejected.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his five-hour talks with US envoys on ending the war in Ukraine were “necessary” and “useful” but also “difficult work,” with some of the proposals

Putin said his five-hour talks with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner were “useful,” but also “difficult work.”

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin met with President Donald Trump ’s special envoy tasked with negotiating an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as his son-in-law, for a "constructive" five-hour meeting Tuesday, but more work needs to be done, Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Putin, said in a video the Kremlin posted online.

President Donald Trump said that the Moscow talks on resolving the war in Ukraine were “reasonably good” and that his negotiators say Putin wants an agreement.

President Vladimir Putin has warned again that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war in Ukraine.

Both sides describe talks as constructive but admit no compromise could be reached on the thorniest issue - territorial concessions