Vladimir Putin suggests placing Ukraine underneath U.N.-sponsored exterior governance, boasts battlefield good points

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremonial ship launching for the nuclear-powered submarine Perm on the Atomflot, a service base for nuclear-powered fleet, in Murmansk, Russia, on March 27, 2025.
| Photograph Credit score: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Friday (March 28, 2025) to place Ukraine underneath exterior governance underneath the U.N. aegis as a part of efforts to succeed in a peaceable settlement, a blustery assertion that mirrored the Kremlin chief’s willpower to realize his struggle objectives.

Talking to the crew of a Russian nuclear submarine in televised remarks broadcast early on Friday (March 28, 2025), Mr. Putin reaffirmed his declare that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose time period expired final yr, lacks the legitimacy to signal a peace deal.

Beneath Ukraine’s structure it’s unlawful for the nation to carry nationwide elections whereas it is underneath martial legislation.

Mr. Putin claimed that any settlement that’s signed with the present Ukrainian authorities may very well be challenged by its successors and mentioned new elections may very well be held underneath exterior governance.

“Beneath the auspices of the United Nations, with the US, even with European international locations, and, in fact, with our companions and buddies, we might talk about the opportunity of introduction of short-term governance in Ukraine,” Putin mentioned, including that it could permit the nation to “maintain democratic elections, to carry to energy a viable authorities that enjoys the belief of the individuals, after which start negotiations with them on a peace treaty.”

He added that such exterior governance is simply “one of many choices,” with out elaborating.

Mr. Putin’s remarks got here hours after the conclusion of a summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron that thought-about plans to deploy troops to Ukraine to cement an eventual peace deal. Macron mentioned “a number of” different nations need to be a part of the drive alongside France and Britain.

Russia has warned it wouldn’t settle for any troops from NATO members as a part of a potential peacekeeping drive.

Mr. Macron and different contributors of the Paris summit on Thursday accused Russia of solely pretending to desire a negotiated settlement.

“They’re taking part in video games they usually’re taking part in for time,” mentioned U.Ok. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “We are able to’t allow them to drag this out whereas they proceed prosecuting their unlawful invasion.”

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a tentative U.S-brokered deal to pause strikes on power infrastructure, however shortly accused one another of violations, underscoring the challenges to negotiating a broader peace.

Russia launched 163 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine late Thursday, in keeping with the Ukrainian air drive, which mentioned that 89 of them have been downed and 51 extra jammed.

The drones broken a number of residential buildings and injured a 19-year-old in Zaporizhzhia, regional head Ivan Fedorov mentioned. In Poltava, drones broken warehouses, administrative constructing, and a high-voltage transformer, in keeping with regional head Volodymyr Kohut.

Harm to buildings and infrastructure amenities was additionally reported by the authorities within the Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv areas.

Ukraine’s state-run fuel firm, Naftogaz, mentioned Friday that its amenities got here underneath Russian fireplace with out specifying its time and placement.

The Russian Protection Ministry mentioned that Ukrainian forces struck a fuel metering station in Sudzha within the Kursk area with U.S.-made HIMARS rockets, utterly destroying the power. It mentioned one other Ukrainian strike on an power facility in Russia’s Bryansk area led to an influence cutoff, and added that air defenses downed 19 Ukrainian drones that tried to strike an oil refinery in Saratov.

The ministry charged that the persevering with strikes present that Kyiv’s pledge of adherence to a U.S.-proposed halt on strikes on power amenities was simply “one other ruse by Zelenskyy to forestall the collapse of Ukrainian defenses and to revive army potential with the assistance of European allies.”

Whereas Ukraine has agreed to a full, 30-day ceasefire that Trump has proposed, Putin has made a whole ceasefire conditional on a halt of arms provides to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s army mobilization — calls for rejected by Ukraine and its Western allies.

Russian troops have made sluggish however regular good points in a number of sectors of the greater than 1,000-kilometer (over 620-mile) frontline, and Zelenskyy warned Thursday that Russia was making an attempt to pull out talks in preparation for greater offensives.

Mr. Putin declared in in a single day remarks that the Russian troops have “gained steam” and “are holding strategic initiative all alongside the road of contact.”

He famous that Russia is open to a peaceable settlement, however emphasised the necessity to “take away root causes that led to the present state of affairs.”

“We definitely want to make sure Russia’s safety for a protracted historic perspective,” he mentioned.

Mr. Putin has demanded that Kyiv withdraw its forces from the 4 areas Moscow has partially seized. He additionally needs Ukraine to surrender becoming a member of NATO, sharply lower its military and legally shield Russian language and tradition to maintain the nation in Moscow’s orbit.

Russian officers even have mentioned that any potential peace deal ought to contain unfreezing Russian property within the West and lifting different U.S. and European Union sanctions. The Trump administration has mentioned it could contemplate potential sanctions reduction.