Putin says Russia has received proposal to limit military action to 4 regions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said that Moscow has received a proposal to confine military operations to four regions – Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk.

In an interview with state media outlet Vesti, Putin said contacts on negotiations over Ukraine are ongoing and include new proposals.

He said the proposal also calls for Russia and Ukraine to halt long-range strikes deep inside each other's territory.

Putin also said Russia's retaliatory strikes deep inside Ukraine are "much more powerful and sensitive."

“We do not exclude the possibility of attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, unexpected, as the enemy believes, unexpected for us, diversionary attacks with limited tasks by special forces and with the aim of diverting our attention and our forces from solving the main task -- the final liberation of Donbas and Novorossiya,” he said.

Putin also said Ukraine would "pay" for its incursion into Russia's Kursk region by losing territory that Moscow says is needed to establish a security buffer zone.

He said Russia and the US discussed possibilities for ending the conflict in Ukraine, but no agreements were signed at last year's summit in the American city of Anchorage.

“But we discussed certain possibilities for ending the conflict in Ukraine. We were asked to accept the compromises formulated by American negotiators. Well, we agreed,” he said.

Putin said Russia is awaiting the arrival of US representatives once the "hot phase" of the Iranian conflict ends, reaffirming Moscow’s readiness to continue negotiations.

He added that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is also ready to provide assistance in negotiations with Ukraine.

Putin called “concerning” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s warnings to Lukashenko to remove signal relay stations from Belarus’ territory, saying Kyiv would act if they are not dismantled within a week.

“But this doesn't cause any panic on the part of President Lukashenko. He's approaching this very calmly, balanced, and measuredly,” he said.