{"id":193342,"date":"2025-12-12T11:59:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-kremlin-deals-hammer-blow-to-hopes-of-peace-deal-with-territory-demand-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:59:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:59:35","slug":"ukraine-russia-war-latest-kremlin-deals-hammer-blow-to-hopes-of-peace-deal-with-territory-demand-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-russia-war-latest-kremlin-deals-hammer-blow-to-hopes-of-peace-deal-with-territory-demand-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine-Russia war latest: Kremlin deals hammer blow to hopes of peace deal with territory demand – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2018If not by negotiation then by military means, this territory will come under the full control of the Russian federation\u2019 top foreign policy aid Ushakov said about the Donbas region
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A ceasefire with Ukraine is conditional upon the country\u2019s complete withdrawal from the Donbas region<\/a>, a top Kremlin aide said on Friday in the country\u2019s firmest demand on territory yet.
As peace negotiations have slowly continued, territory has remained a sticking point<\/a>, with Russia insisting it has a historical and cultural right to the Donbas region \u2013\u00a0a key strategic location for both countries.
\u201cIf not by negotiation, then by military means, this territory will come under the full control of the Russian Federation,\u201d President Vladimir Putin\u2019s top foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov <\/a>said, according to Russian newspaper Kommersant<\/em>. \u201cEverything else will depend entirely on that.\u201d
He said that Russia\u2019s national guard could be deployed to the Donbas under a peace plan and its army absent from parts of the region under Ukrainian control.
The US will send a representative to participate in talks in Europe<\/a> on Ukraine this weekend, Donald Trump<\/a> has said, while warning that he doesn’t want to waste \u201ca lot of time\u201d.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office<\/a> on Thursday, Trump said: “We’ll be attending the meeting on Saturday in Europe if we think there’s a good chance. And we don’t want to waste a lot of time if we think it’s negative.”
Berlin has summoned Russia\u2019s ambassador over allegations of \u201chybrid attacks\u201d, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.
They include disinformation campaigns, espionage, cyberattacks and attempted sabotage.
\u201cThis morning we therefore summoned the Russian ambassador to the foreign office and made it clear that we are monitoring Russia’s actions very closely and will take action against them,\u201d the spokesperson said.
Russia has denied it has engaged in hybrid warfare.
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold a meeting in Ashgabat on Friday.
Ukraine\u2019s military has said it has hit two Russian ships carrying military equipment and weapons in the Caspian Sea.
The vessels named as the Composer Rakhmaninoff and the Askar-Sarydzha were sanctioned by the US for carrying military cargo between Iran and Russia, according to a statement by Ukraine\u2019s special forces on Telegram on Friday.
The Kremlin has insisted that the whole of the Donbas region belongs to Russia, in response to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s statement that a referendum would need to take place to agree any territorial concessions.
It said a ceasefire would only be possible after withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbas region.
US negotiators foresee Ukrainian forces withdrawing from the Donetsk region, with the compromise being that Russian forces do not enter that territory, Mr Zelensky said. He stressed that the decision would have to be determined by a public vote.
The UK\u2019s armed forces minister has said that the UK is \u201crapidly developing\u201d plans for the possible outbreak of war, according to Sky News.
\u201dThe shadow of war is knocking on Europe’s door once more,\u201d Al Carns said during a visit to RAF Wyton on Thursday. \u201cThat’s the reality. We’ve got to be prepared to deter it.\u201d
He said that hostile intelligence activity including spying, hacking and physical threats against armed forces and the Ministry of Defence had increased by more than 50 per cent in the last year.
The main suspects are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
A new defence counter-intelligence unit is being launched to counter the operations. Various military intelligence branches are joining forces to streamline their response to hostilities.
\u201cThere’s a whole load of work going on now between us [Ministry of Defence], the Cabinet Office, and the whole of society approach, and what conflict means, and what everybody’s role in society means if we were to go to war and the build up to war,\u201d he said.
\u201dCollectively, everybody – what is their role if we get caught in an existential crisis, and what do they need to be aware they need to do and what they can’t do, and how do we mobilise the nation to support a military endeavour?
\u201cNot just about deploying the military, but actually about protecting every inch of our own territory. That work is ongoing now, it’s rapidly developing. We’ve got to move as fast as we can to make sure that’s shored up.\u201d
Russia\u2019s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov has said that the Kremlin has not seen a revised US proposal after American delegates took part in talks with Ukraine.
He added that Moscow may not like parts of the proposal, according to Russian news agency Interfax.
The country\u2019s state news agency reported that Russia will discuss the outcome of talks with Ukraine with the US in the near future.
Europe must<\/a> prepare for a conflict with Russia<\/a> \u201con the scale our grandparents endured\u201d, Nato\u2019s<\/a> secretary general has said in a stark warning to the West.
Tensions have been escalating across the continent in recent weeks, following a spate of drone incursions<\/a> into Nato airspace and a chilling statement by Russian president Vladimir Putin that his country is \u201cready for war right now\u201d<\/a> if Europe wants it.
\u201cWe are Russia\u2019s next target. And we are already in harm\u2019s way,\u201d Mark Rutte said in a speech in Berlin on Thursday.
\u201cRussia has brought war back to Europe, and we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured.\u201d
Russia’s central bank has accused the European Union of acting illegally in its attempts to use its assets to fund Ukraine\u2019s war effort, warning that it reserves the right to employ all available mechanisms to protect its interests.
“Mechanisms of direct or indirect use of the assets of the Bank of Russia, as well as any other forms of unauthorized use of the assets of the Bank of Russia, are illegal and contrary to international law, including violating the principles of sovereign immunity of assets,” the central bank said.
Russia attacked energy facilities in the southern Ukrainian Odesa region overnight, causing fires and blackouts, the local governor and emergency service said on Friday.
Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram the drone attack left several settlements in the region, where Ukraine’s main seaports are concentrated, without electricity.
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