Russia in talks with US demanded withdrawal of Ukrainian Armed Forces from Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions - Moscow Times.
The Russian delegation at the talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia demanded to take control of the entire territory of four regions of Ukraine - Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by The Moscow Times.
"Time is currently on our side, and we’ll try to make the most of it," a Russian diplomat told The Moscow Times before the second round of negotiations.
Although the Russian army does not fully control any of the regions, the Kremlin expects to seize them within their administrative boundaries, citing the Russian Constitution, which "enshrines their annexation," the newspaper writes.
"There is no constitutional mechanism for regions to secede. We need all of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson," the Russian official said.
Russia hopes that the US will either tacitly allow the offensive to continue on the battlefield while diplomats negotiate, or even pressure Ukraine to withdraw its troops completely from the occupied regions, including Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Alternately, Russia could try to occupy parts of Dnipropetrovsk or Sumy regions to offer a trade for Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
"We hope to find an option that doesn’t involve forcing the Dnipro and storming Kherson. I really hope it doesn’t come to that. That would mean for us thousands of casualties," the Russian official said.
The official also added that in terms of military logistics, Russian forces in their current state cannot really aspire to anything beyond the area of Sloviansk and Dnipro.
As a reminder, the ultimatums that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is putting forward before the 30-day truce proposed by US President Donald Trump are aimed at weakening Ukraine. They have not changed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
