Vladimir Putin has addressed proposals for a peace plan for the first time. But while he rattles sabres in the diplomatic sphere, analysts say victory on the battlefield is not a foregone conclusion. Get questions in for our military analyst Michael Clarke and follow the latest.
Thursday 27 November 2025 14:12, UK
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Our military analyst Michael Clarke is back for another instalment of his weekly Q&A tomorrow afternoon.
He’ll join our presenter Kamali Melbourne at 1pm, giving you plenty of time to send us any of your questions.
Since last week’s session, there have been more developments in the diplomatic sphere, with back and forth talks over a peace deal.
Whatever your question, get in touch using the box above and we’ll get through as many as we can.
Taking one of the final questions, Vladimir Putin says signing documents with the current Ukrainian leadership is “pointless”.
He insists Ukraine made a strategic mistake when they were “afraid” to go to elections.
Putin makes a point of saying that Russia held elections despite also being in a state of armed conflict.
He adds that Russia wants to agree with Ukraine eventually, but says it is legally impossible now.
He says he wants “healthy people” in charge of Ukraine “who want to build a healthy relationship with Russia in the long-term”.
Vladimir Putin keeps the floor open to further questions, and has been asked about reports of a rift with Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
Rumours of a rift have been mounting since Donald Trump called off a planned summit with Putin in Budapest, following a phone call between Lavrov and US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
According to the Financial Times, it was Lavrov’s uncompromising stance that prompted the White House to put the summit on ice.
But Putin insists Lavrov has not fallen out of favour, adding that he is preparing for a meeting with US officials next week.
Coming near to the end of his news conference, Vladimir Putin has been asked about US sanctions against Russian oil companies.
Putin says he was “surprised” by the move from Washington, and warns it is destroying Russia’s relations with the US.
He adds that the Russian government is developing a package of retaliatory measures in case of “confiscation of Russian assets in Europe”.
For context: The restrictions were unveiled last month due to what US treasury secretary Scott Bessent called “Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine”.
The measures were slapped on Rosneft and Lukoil – Russia’s two biggest oil companies – as well as dozens of subsidiaries.
The two companies export 3.1 million barrels of oil a day, with Rosneft alone responsible for almost half of Russia’s oil production.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control described Rosneft as being “a vertically integrated energy company specialising in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport and sale of petroleum, natural gas and petroleum products”.
It added: “Lukoil engages in the exploration, production, refining, marketing and distribution of oil and gas in Russia and internationally.”
The Russian president is now asked about a leaked phone call between one of his aides and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, which was reported by Bloomberg.
Vladimir Putin didn’t rule out that the conversations being reported are fake.
He adds that leaking such conversations is a military offence.
What was in the report?
The report said that special envoy Steve Witkoff spoke to Yuri Ushakov on 14 October.
Bloomberg reports that the conversation lasted around five minutes and in it Witkoff gave Ushakov advice on how Putin should broach the topic of peace in Ukraine with Trump.
It claims his guidance involved suggesting Moscow set up a Trump-Putin call before Zelenskyy visited the White House the week after.
Bloomberg reports that Witkoff said:
“Zelenskyy is coming to the White House on Friday. I will go to that because they want me there, but I think if possible we have the call with your boss before that Friday meeting.”
Vladimir Putin has been asked whether he knows who will be representing the US delegation in Moscow next week.
“It’s clearly up to the president of the United States, we are waiting for them next week.”
Speaking about the situation on the battlefield, Putin says Russian troops are moving fast in all directions.
He tells reporters that the battle will stop once Ukrainian troops leave.
“If Ukrainian troops leave the occupied territories, then we will cease hostilities; if they do not leave – we will achieve it by military means,” he says.
On the prospect of a return to the G7, Putin says he “can’t imagine” how his country can interact with the other nations.
Vladimir Putin has been asked about the discussion over the US-brokered peace plan for the first time.
“There was a line of questions put forward for discussion,” he says, adding there are no “final versions”.
Putin says Russia is ready for “serious” talks and adds that a US delegation will visit Moscow next week.
He says Russia agrees that Donald Trump’s plan can be used as a basis for future agreements, but adds that European security needs discussing.
He says Russia acknowledges the US is taking its position into account, but insists some aspects need discussing.
Putin goes on to say Russia “doesn’t have any aggressive plans towards Europe” and calls such an idea ridiculous.
We’re now hearing from Vladimir Putin, who is speaking at the security council of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation in Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian president arrived in the capital of the central Asian country on Tuesday and is on a three-day state visit.
He hasn’t yet spoken publicly about the US-brokered peace deal as discussions over the plan continue. We’ll listen across and bring you anything he says about it.
You can also watch along in the live stream at the top of this page.
We told you earlier about NATO allies being urged to prioritise their defence, with fears Russian aggression could spill over elsewhere in Europe (see 8.09 post).
Over in France, Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a new national military service as the country seeks to bolster its armed forces.
He announced that volunteers aged 18 and 19 will start serving next year as part of a new 10-month military service programme.
Macron said young volunteers will serve in France’s mainland and oversea territories only, and not in military operations abroad.
He added that Russia’s war in Ukraine puts the European continent at “great risk”.
“The day that you send a signal of weakness to Russia – which for 10 years has made a strategic choice to become an imperial power again, that’s to say advance wherever we are weak – well, it will continue to advance,” he said.
Russia has reiterated its stance that NATO membership would be unacceptable for Moscow amid discussions over the US-brokered peace plan.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said NATO’s attempts to draw Ukraine into its structure posed a threat.
The country’s deputy foreign minister also said that the presence of the coalition of the willing in Ukraine is “absolutely out of question”.
Led by the UK and France, there had been suggestion that the initiative could see troops from a number of European and NATO countries deployed to Ukraine as peacekeepers in order to deter Vladimir Putin from rearming and attacking again in the future.
Ukraine’s defence minister has announced a new agreement with the UK to produce Octopus interceptor drones.
The drones are based on a domestically-developed technology called Octopus which intercepts Russian Shahed drones.
The technology has been tested in combat and worked “at night, under jamming and at low altitudes”, Ukraine’s defence ministry said.
Watch: How night-time team takes down deadly drones
“This is a historical precedent and the next important step that will allow the production of Ukrainian interceptors in the United Kingdom,” Denys Shmyhal said in a post on Telegram.
He added that “mass production” is planned, with potential for several thousand per month – something Shmyhal said would “strengthen the protection of our skies”.
Earlier this month, we reported that Russian Shahed and Shahed-type drone launches have increased by more than 300% from 2024 – read more below.
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