Putin rejects demilitarized zones, proposes aid mission in Kostiantynivka

Putin holds to territorial demands

On Thursday, 12 November 2026, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow for almost two and a half hours. The envoys flew in from Abu Dhabi, where Russian, Ukrainian and American delegations had spent two days in talks that agreed a large prisoner exchange but no breakthrough on ending the war. Kirill Dmitriev, a senior Russian official in Moscow's group for talks with Washington, met them at Vnukovo airport and accompanied them to the meeting. Witkoff described it as his tenth trip to Russia to speak with Putin, and Russian state television broadcast the conversation, which departs from the usual practice. Putin said that for Russia there is only one dividing line, the state border, and he rejected any deal that would create demilitarized zones between Ukrainian and Russian positions.

What Putin demands on territory

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and in 2022 declared Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson part of its territory, although it does not fully control them. Moscow's main demand is that Ukrainian troops withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk, the Donbas, which Russia has not conquered in almost five years of war. Kyiv categorically rejects ceding territory and says Russian forces have not advanced as far as the Russian General Staff reported to Putin. According to TASS, Putin also said foreign troops deployed in Ukraine after a peace settlement would be a legitimate target for Russia, and the war would flare up again immediately. The Kremlin released video from the opening of the talks.

A humanitarian mission for Kostiantynivka

Putin proposed a humanitarian operation in Kostiantynivka, a Donetsk city at the front, modeled on the evacuation from Oleshky in the occupied Kherson region. He said Russia would need five days to clear mines from the area and put the number of civilians still in the city at 400 to 500. According to Berliner Zeitung, he suggested that the human rights commissioners of Russia and Ukraine prepare the mission together. Putin claimed Russian forces control the town and can guarantee the mission's security, adding that if Kyiv believes it holds the town, Kyiv should provide security on its side. Kyiv rejected the proposal, and Zelensky's spokesman Dmytro Lytwyn argued that the Oleshky operation had been used to bring in military equipment and swap troops, so Moscow's aim was clear. Before the war nearly 80,000 people lived in Kostiantynivka, which is now almost completely destroyed, and the Kremlin claimed its capture in early July, a claim Kyiv denied.

The Oleshky truce and its aftermath

The ceasefire ran from 27 October to 1 November and allowed more than 750 people to leave, according to Berliner Zeitung. Some evacuees crossed through Belarus into Ukrainian-controlled territory on 31 October, while others travelled to Russia. US First Lady Melania Trump said she had helped mediate the truce, and Russia's human rights commissioner Jana Lantratowa announced an agreement for further regular aid missions. Oleksandr Prokudin, the military governor of the Kherson region, said Russian forces used the pause to rotate exhausted personnel, resupply weapons and retake some positions the Ukrainian army had previously pushed them out of. He also said Russian soldiers searched Oleshky's cellars for places to set up hideouts for drone pilots. The Ukrainian journalist Azad Safarov, reporting for Sky News, said Russian troops brought military equipment and ammunition into the town during the pause.

Diplomatic track and next steps

Kushner raised the question of European involvement in negotiations to end the war, and Putin responded that Russia has never opposed talks with the Europeans. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the talks could soon enter a new phase, and a meeting that would give Europe a seat at the table is planned for the coming weeks. Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia praised the United States for opening a dialogue on a post-war settlement. Zelensky said the US Starshield satellite service had been throttled again for several days, after earlier throttling in October that affected Ukrainian drone operations. Witkoff said that after Moscow he and Kushner would brief Zelensky and then travel to Ireland to meet him before he returns to Ukraine, and that Donald Trump is committed to ending the war as soon as possible.