MOSCOW, Oct. 16 - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow would not discuss its planned “security zone” inside Ukrainian territory in any potential peace negotiations with Kyiv.
Putin made the statement during a visit to an auxiliary command post of Russia’s Joint Grouping of Forces. He said Russian forces had been ordered to establish the zone after Ukraine’s 2024-25 operation in Russia’s Kursk region, presenting it as a measure intended to protect Russian border regions.
“We do not plan to make this a subject for potential peace negotiations with Ukraine,” Putin said in televised remarks reported by Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the planned zone would extend for 660 kilometers, or about 410 miles, along the border and claimed that Russian forces controlled about 70% of it. He did not specify how far the zone would extend into Ukraine. The territorial-control figure is a Russian government claim and has not been independently verified.
The plan would affect parts of Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Neither region is among the Ukrainian territories Moscow has claimed to annex since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Putin has previously called for a buffer or security zone along the border, but Friday’s remarks explicitly excluded the issue from possible negotiations. His statement concerned the proposed zone and did not amount to a rejection of all peace talks.