Russia building ‘security zone’ in Ukraine that won’t be part of future peace talks: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a report of Russian chief of general staff general Valery Gerasimov (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said Moscow is building a buffer “security zone” inside Ukraine which won’t be a part of any future peace negotiations, describing the move as necessary to protect Russia’s border regions.Putin made the remarks during a visit to a command post of Russia’s joint military task force. He linked the operation to Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region in 2024-25, saying Russian forces had been directed to push Ukrainian troops out of Russian territory and extend the operation into neighbouring Ukrainian territory.“The Russian armed forces were tasked not only with expelling the enemy from our land but also with establishing a security zone in the adjacent territory. This task is being carried out successfully,” he said in televised comments.“Our goal is to ensure the absolute security of Russia’s border regions for the future, and we do not plan to make this a subject for potential peace negotiations with Ukraine.”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the proposed security zone would cover a stretch of 660 km (410 miles), with Russian forces controlling 70 per cent of the area.Putin was also quoted by the Kremlin as saying that Russia still needed to capture more of Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Reuters reported.The latest remarks follow the Kremlin’s announcement in July that Russia was working to establish a buffer zone along the border.“Given the aggressive nature of the Kyiv regime, in order to ensure the safety of our citizens, we will have to create a security zone, or buffer zone,” Peskov had told a Russian journalist, according to Anadolu Agency.Peskov said the initiative was progressing steadily and pointed to advances made by Russian troops.“It is being created, and it is being created systematically,” he said in remarks carried by Russian media outlets, including state news agency Tass, arguing that “significant results” had been achieved in terms of Russian troop advances.He also maintained that Moscow would continue the operation until the zone reached the scale it considered necessary for its security.The spokesperson had remarked that no one should doubt that the “buffer zone” would be created “to the extent necessary to ensure our security.”