Russia wants to impose its peace plan with advances on multiple fronts in Ukraine

"Russia's conditions for ending the Ukraine war became clear this November with Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan. The U.S. president's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, drafted a document with close associates of Russian leader Vladimir Putin that amounted to a list of concessions for Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies made it clear to Trump that this was an unacceptable humiliation and that the proposal had to be reformulated."

"Putin responded as always, with force, escalating pressure on multiple fronts. The result is the most significant Russian advance in recent months. On December 1, Putin announced that his troops had completed the capture of three key locations: Vovchansk and Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, and Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region. Putin's claim is false because his army has not fully taken these towns; fighting continues street by street."

"According to sources in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, these messages from the Russian leader are intended to convince Trump in the ongoing negotiations to revise his peace plan that major concessions are unavoidable because Ukraine has no option but to surrender. That plan stipulates that all of Donbas (comprising the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces) must be under Russian sovereignty. The Ukrainian army must withdraw from the 20% of Donetsk still under its control."

Russia attached concrete conditions to a 28-point peace proposal that would force major concessions from Ukraine, drafted with close associates of Vladimir Putin. Kyiv and European allies rejected the plan as humiliating and demanded reformulation. Russia escalated military pressure and proclaimed captures of Vovchansk, Kupiansk and Pokrovsk, though fighting continues in those towns. Ukrainian sources say Russian messaging aims to convince negotiators that Ukraine must surrender because Donbas must transfer to Russian sovereignty. The plan requires Ukrainian forces to withdraw from roughly 20% of Donetsk and links returns in Sumy and Kharkiv to those concessions.

Read at english.elpais.com