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Putin Is Already Defining Occupied Ukraine As Part Of Russia In Snub To Trump Peace Plan

Putin Is Already Defining Occupied Ukraine As Part Of Russia In Snub To Trump Peace Plan

Vladimir Putin is already describing occupied Ukraine as sovereign Russia. Vladimir Putin has already started describing parts of occupied Ukraine as sovereign Russian territory, according to the UK. Russia currently occupies approximately a fifth of Ukraine, having seized it all via military offensives over the last decade. US president Donald Trump has offered to allow Moscow to formally declare some of that land as Russian territory – as long as Putin agrees to a wider peace deal. But Russia’s gruelling invasion of Ukraine has continued – and Moscow is already referring to the seized land as part of its own country. An update from the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) explained: “Russia now defines both occupied and unoccupied Ukrainian territory in the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson as well as Crimea, as being part of the Russian Federation.” The UK officials added: “This directly contradicts Russia’s own formal recognition of Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty following the collapse of the Soviet Union.” Putin’s decision to override that pivotal 1991 treaty came via a new decree called the “Strategy of Russia’s national policy in the period to 2036” which the Russian authoritarian signed on November 25. It defines these eastern Ukrainian oblasts as “historical territories of the Russian state” and, according to the MoD, “emphasises the overtly imperialist aspect of Russia’s continuing efforts to subjugate Ukraine.” The Russian leader is evidently building on Trump’s already very pro-Russian peace plan which he unveiled days before Putin’s decree. Trump offered to recognise Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk as de facto Russian, while freezing the frontlines in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – meaning de facto recognition along the line of contact, rather than giving Putin the entirety of those latter two oblasts. Trump’s 28-point plan demands Russia subsequently relinquishes other territories it controls outside of those regions, which Putin evidently is not ready to do. Putin’s new document also disregards his own pledge to the people of Luhansk and Donetsk, made in February 2022. He declared the two separatist regions independent “People’s Republics” – and then invaded the rest of Ukraine three days later. The MoD explained the decision to fully claim these Ukrainian oblasts is part of the wider Russification policy. The intelligence officials said: “The Russian authorities have been directed to build Russian identity and increase the use of the Russian language in the territory it illegally occupies in Ukraine.” This “continued Russification policy” involves forcing Russian language, identity and culture on to the residents of sovereign Ukrainian territory. “The policy forms part of Russia’s longstanding efforts to extirpate Ukrainian culture and identity, and de-legitimise Ukrainian statehood,” the MoD said. Putin said on Thursday that Washington’s legal recognition of these regions as Russian land would be a key part of peace negotiations. Russia said it received a revised strategy for ending the war on Friday, after Ukraine’s allies in Europe worked to persuade the US to accept some of their counter proposals on Trump’s initial plan intended to be more favourable towards Ukraine. Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 27 November 2025. Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/GgdyHbM4XZ #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/TEmxOl0wPy — Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) November 27, 2025 Related... Putin Ally Tries To Turn The Tables On The West With 1 Bleak Claim Amid Peace Talks EU's Top Diplomat Says Putin Is 'Near Breaking Point' So Trump Must Change Ukraine Deal Putin Making A Mockery Of Trump's Peace Plan As Ukraine Attack Kills 4 People