Russian President Vladimir Putin wants US President Donald Trump to officially recognize all four Ukrainian regions that Moscow claims in addition to Crimea as Russian, Reuters reported, citing Russian daily Kommersant.
Citing sources who attended a private business event attended by Putin on Wednesday, Kommersant reported that the Russian president wants the US to officially recognize the four regions - Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson - as Russian. for part of Russia, along with Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Although Russia is making progress on the battlefield, it does not fully control any of the four regions, Reuters points out.
According to the Russian daily, in exchange for recognition, Putin would agree not to lay claim to the Ukrainian city of Odessa and other Ukrainian territory.
In response to a question about the publication in “Kommersant“, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Putin and Trump had not discussed such an idea during their conversation yesterday.
He confirmed, without giving further details, that Putin had discussed the conflict in Ukraine at a meeting with members of the Russian business elite on Tuesday.
However, Peskov did not confirm whether Putin had mentioned the idea of the United States recognizing the four regions and Crimea at the meeting.