Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Friday putting Ukraine under temporary governance under the U.N. umbrella as part of efforts to reach a peaceful settlement of the three-year-old war, a blustery statement that reflected the Kremlin leader’s determination to achieve his war goals.
Speaking to the crew of a Russian nuclear submarine in televised remarks broadcast early Friday, Putin reaffirmed his claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal. Kyiv maintains that elections are impossible to hold amid a war.
Putin claimed that any agreement that is signed with the current Ukrainian government could be challenged by its successors but said new elections could be held under the temporary governance.
“Under the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with European countries and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine,” Putin said, adding that it would enable the country to “hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty.”
He added that such external governance is just “one of the options,” but didn’t elaborate.
Putin’s remarks came hours after the conclusion of a summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron that considered plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to cement an eventual peace deal. Macron said “several” other nations want to be part of the force alongside France and Britain.
Russia has warned it wouldn’t accept any troops from NATO members as part of a prospective peacekeeping force.
Macron and other participants of the Paris summit on Thursday accused Russia of only pretending to want a negotiated settlement.
“They are playing games and they’re playing for time,” said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We can’t let them drag this out while they continue prosecuting their illegal invasion.”
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a tentative U.S-brokered deal to pause strikes on energy infrastructure and Black Sea navigation, but Moscow then made new demands on the Black Sea accord.
Both sides quickly accused each other of violations in any event, underscoring the challenges to negotiating a broader peace.
Russia launched 163 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine late Thursday, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said 89 of them were downed and 51 more jammed.
The drones damaged multiple residential buildings and injured a 19-year-old in Zaporizhzhia, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. In Poltava, drones damaged warehouses, administrative building, and a high-voltage transformer, according to regional head Volodymyr Kohut.
Damage to buildings and infrastructure facilities was also reported by the authorities in the Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions.
While Ukraine has agreed to a full, 30-day ceasefire that Trump has proposed, Putin has made a complete ceasefire conditional on a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s military mobilization – demands rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies.
Putin boasts of battlefield progress
Putin declared in overnight remarks that the Russian military has “gained steam” and is now pushing offensives all along the front line.
“Our troops, our guys are moving forward and liberate one territory after another,” he said. “Our troops are holding strategic initiative all along the line of contact.”
He noted that Russia is open to a peaceful settlement, but emphasized the need to “remove root causes that led to the current situation.”
“We certainly need to ensure Russia’s security for a long historic perspective,” he said.
Putin has demanded that Kyiv withdraw its forces from the four regions Moscow has seized but doesn’t fully control. He also wants Ukraine to renounce joining NATO, sharply cut its army and legally protect Russian language and culture to keep the country in Moscow’s orbit.
Russian officials also have said that any prospective peace deal should involve unfreezing Russian assets in the West and lifting other U.S. and European Union sanctions. The Trump administration has said it would consider potential sanctions relief.
Ukraine-U.S. minerals deal negotiations continuing
Separately, Ukrainian officials said Friday that terms of a deal giving Washington a stake in proceeds from the extraction and exporting of Kyiv’s plentiful minerals haven’t been agreed on. But a summary of proposals that the Reuters news agency saw showed the U.S. demanding all of Ukraine’s natural resources income for years — until Ukraine had repaid the cost of all American wartime aid, plus interest.
Ukrainian officials didn’t tell Reuters how their country feels about the proposals. Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he accepts the concept of a U.S stake in Ukraine’s natural resources proceeds but not an agreement that would impoverish his country.
Three people familiar with the ongoing negotiations said Washington’s latest proposals don’t include any future security guarantees for Kyiv.
The updated proposals were first reported by the Financial Times.
