Russia says claims over annexed Ukraine regions 'imperative' in talks (Credits: AP)

MOSCOW: Russia said on Monday it was ready to negotiate with Ukraine but that recognition of Moscow's claims over five Ukrainian regions including Crimea were "imperative" to resolving the conflict.
Since launching its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, Russia has seized large parts of four Ukrainian regions and claimed them as its own, in addition to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Ukraine has denounced the annexations as an illegal land grab and says it will never recognise them, while European officials have warned that accepting Moscow's demands set a dangerous precedent that could lead to future aggression.

"The Russian side has repeatedly confirmed its readiness, as confirmed by the president, to begin negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media on Monday.
But when asked if there were indeed preconditions that Russia required to sit down with Ukraine, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said: "International recognition of Russia's ownership of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Donetsk People's Republic, the Lugansk People's Republic, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions is imperative."
Lavrov made the comments in an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo, published by the Russian foreign ministry.
US President Donald Trump said earlier he believed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky was ready to concede Crimea as part of a ceasefire deal, as talks on a truce entered what Washington called a "critical" week.