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Putin Now Wants More Ukrainian Territory Beyond Donbas, FT Reports
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Russian leader Vladimir Putin is demanding Ukrainian territory beyond the Kyiv-controlled parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of any final settlement, the Financial Times (FT) reported on November 6.
Two people involved in unofficial efforts to end the war told the FT that Putin now views Kyiv’s withdrawal from the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of the Donbas only as a precondition for a ceasefire.
Moscow is seeking to strengthen its negotiating position by intensifying strikes on Ukraine this winter, according to the FT.
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In a final deal, Putin would expect Ukraine to give up more territory in return for any security guarantees from NATO countries, one of the sources said.
The same source said Putin regards the bombing campaign as payback for Ukraine’s summer drone strikes on Russian refineries and warehouses, and holds Kyiv responsible for the failure of earlier truces. Russia, however, has been systematically targeting Ukraine’s energy grid since autumn 2022, long before Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russian refineries began.
“I will destroy all your infrastructure until you agree,” the same source said, relaying the Russian leader’s position. According to the source, Putin expects Ukraine to be left with no functioning infrastructure by next year, with its bridges, ports, railways and power plants all destroyed.
Against this backdrop, the FT’s sources considered it unlikely that the talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11 would produce a ceasefire.
The report comes as Washington prepares for new negotiations involving Ukraine and Russia. Trump envoy Jared Kushner stated that the US had held discussions with Ukraine, NATO, and European partners on security guarantees and a broader European security architecture, FT wrote.
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The Financial Times reported that Moscow views efforts to shift negotiations from territorial questions toward security guarantees as a way to prolong talks while weakening Ukraine’s military position.
European governments have opposed using negotiations over Ukraine to redesign the continent’s broader security architecture, according to the FT. Officials are concerned that Moscow could use such discussions to restore influence over countries on NATO’s eastern flank.
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One European official told the FT that there would be no parallel negotiations on European security before the war against Ukraine ends.
US officials are working with Ukraine and Russia on proposals intended to make future trilateral negotiations more substantive and productive, the FT reported.
The negotiations come after US President Donald Trump met Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev and predicted that a broader agreement could extend beyond Ukraine to Europe as a whole.
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