MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he hoped peace talks between Russia and Ukraine would continue and that working groups could discuss potential compromises, but said Moscow’s goals remained unchanged.
Speaking one week before the expiry of a deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump for Russia to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine or face new sanctions – including on countries that buy its energy exports – Putin gave no hint of any change in Moscow’s position.
He said that if anyone was disappointed in the outcome of peace talks to date, that was a consequence of inflated expectations.
Speaking to reporters at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in northern Russia, Putin said talks should be conducted “without cameras and in a calm atmosphere.”
He said Russian troops were attacking Ukraine along the entire front line and that the momentum was in their favour, citing the announcement by his Defence Ministry on Thursday that Moscow’s forces had captured the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar after a 16-month battle.
Ukraine denied Chasiv Yar is under full Russian control.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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