Headline Roundup • December 4th, 2025
Putin Says Russia Will Take All of Donbas by 'Military or Other Means'
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will seize all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region by any means necessary in an interview published on Thursday.
Key Quotes: According to Russian state news agency TASS, Putin said Russia will "liberate Donbas and Novorossiya in any case – by military or other means." According to the Kremlin-funded RT (Lean Right bias), he also said, "Either we will liberate those territories through military force, or Ukrainian forces will withdraw and stop fighting there… We told Ukraine from the start: 'The people don't want to stay with you, they took part in referendums [in 2022], voted for their independence; pull back your troops, and there will be no fighting."
The Details: Putin made the comments during an interview with India Today as the president made his first visit to India since 2021. Ukrainian officials reportedly traveled to the US on Thursday for another round of talks with the Trump administration.
For Context: On Tuesday, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Putin for nearly five hours in Moscow to discuss resolving the conflict in Ukraine, though no significant breakthroughs were made. On Sunday, Witkoff, Kushner, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Ukrainian officials in Florida. Ukrainian and American officials described Sunday's meeting, which reportedly focused on territorial concessions, as "difficult" and "productive."
How The Media Covered It: Many mainstream outlets covered Putin's remarks early Thursday morning, before Putin's full exclusive interview with India Today aired. CNN (Lean Left), Politico (Lean Left), and Al Jazeera (Lean Left) described Putin's statements as reflective of his "maximalist" agenda. Reuters (Center) included that "the West and Kyiv dismissed" the 2022 referendums as "a sham." RT used Putin's wording that Russia aims to "liberate" the region and noted Moscow's claims that Ukraine's manpower is dwindling as it conducts "draconian mobilization efforts."
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Featured Coverage of this Story
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Indian media that Moscow would seize the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine "in any case," including by military means, according to Russian state media, digging in on one of his key demands as Ukrainian officials prepare for another round of peace talks which have yet to yield a deal.
Putin is set to arrive in New Delhi on Thursday where he will be hosted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two days after a meeting at the Kremlin with a US delegation led by special...
Sputnik
Russia will drive Ukrainian troops from Donbass and fully liberate the region, whether through military action or diplomatic efforts, President Vladimir Putin has said.
Putin made the remarks in an interview with India Today on Thursday, ahead of his state visit to the country and two days after talks in the Kremlin with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff which centered on an American-drafted peace plan for the Ukraine conflict.
President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published on Thursday that Russia would take full control of Ukraine's Donbas region by force unless Ukrainian forces withdraw, something Kyiv has flatly rejected.
Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
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