President Vladimir Putin has said either Ukrainian troops will withdraw from the country's eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it - rejecting any compromise over a major obstacle to ending the Ukraine war.
"Either we take back these territories by force, or eventually Ukrainian troops withdraw," Putin told India Today.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory, whether held by Russia or not.
Putin's comments come after President Donald Trump said his negotiators believed Russia's leader "would like to end the war" after talks in Moscow on Tuesday.
Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, who led the US side of the talks, is due to meet Ukraine's negotiators in Florida.
