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 the Russian daily Kommersant, BTA reported.
Citing sources who attended a private business event attended by Putin yesterday, Kommersant wrote 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 to not make any claims 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 did not discuss such an idea during their conversation yesterday.
He confirmed, without giving further details, that Putin 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.