Evening Briefing Europe

Putin Demands Ukrainian Land in Any Peace Deal

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This photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik shows Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff in Moscow on April 25.

Photographer: Kristina Kormilitsyna/Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin insists Russia must take control of four regions of Ukraine it doesn’t fully occupy as part of any agreement to end his war, according to three people in Moscow. The demand deals a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to reach a ceasefire.

Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, sought to persuade Putin that Russia should agree to a ceasefire that halts fighting along the current frontlines during talks at the Kremlin on Friday, but the Russian leader maintained his maximalist position on territory, we’re told.