• Insists Kyiv must abandon its Nato aspirations; cede all territory Moscow claims
• Calls European Union’s decision over frozen assets a ‘daylight robbery’
• Stance comes as Ukraine prepares for US-backed talks

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would be ready to stop the war in Ukraine immediately if it received security guarantees but offered no new compromise on his long-standing demands, insisting Kyiv must abandon its Nato aspirations and cede all territory Moscow claims.

During a marathon year-end press conference, Putin maintained an unyielding stance, placing the responsibility for any peace initiative squarely on Ukraine and its allies and said Moscow has no plans to attack Europe.

His comments came as Ukrainian negotiators prepared for a new round of US-backed peace talks aimed at ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two.

“The ball is entirely in the court of our Western opponents, primarily the leaders of the Kyiv regime, and in this case, first and foremost, their European sponsors,” Putin said. “We are ready for both negotiations and a peaceful resolution to the conflict.”

The terms Putin laid out for ending the war are the same he demanded in a June 2024 speech, which include Ukraine’s complete withdrawal from four regions Russia claims as its own territory.

Kyiv has repeatedly said it will not surrender land that Moscow’s forces have failed to capture in nearly four years of fighting.

As Putin spoke, efforts to find a diplomatic solution were underway. The head of Kyiv’s delegation, Rustem Umerov, announced that Ukrainian peace negotiators would start new talks on Friday with a US team, with European partners also involved.

“We are constructively minded,” Umerov said on the Telegram messaging app. “Ukraine’s security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term.”

US President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing for a peace deal.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a 20-point peace framework and security guarantees were discussed but acknowledged that territorial issues remained unresolved.

Witkoff and Kushner also plan to meet a Russian delegation in Miami this weekend, a White House official said.

Putin praised Trump’s initiative, stating, “President Trump is making serious efforts to end this conflict. He is doing so with complete sincerity.”

The Moscow press conference, which ran for nearly 4-1/2 hours, also saw Putin accuse the European Union of attempting “daylight robbery” by considering the use of frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.

His remarks came hours after EU leaders decided to borrow cash to fund Kyiv’s defence, setting aside a plan to use the frozen assets as backing for a loan. However, the leaders said they reserved the right to use Russian assets for repayment if Moscow fails to pay war reparations.

“Theft is not the appropriate term… It’s daylight robbery,” Putin said. “Why can’t this robbery be carried out? Because the consequences could be grave for the robbers.”

While the war dominated the event, text messages from ordinary Russians displayed on a large screen revealed domestic frustrations. “Not a direct line but a circus,” one message read. Others complained about high living costs and poor public services.

Meanwhile, the conflict’s intensity continues to grow. A Ukrainian official said that Kyiv’s forces had struck a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea with aerial drones for the first time, signalling an expansion of Ukraine’s attacks on Russian shipping infrastructure.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2025