Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during a call with military leaders on the Ukraine battlefield situation at the Kremlin in Moscow, on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)2025-12-12T13:20:48Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) A senior Kremlin official says that the Russian police and National Guard will remain in eastern Ukraines Donbas to oversee the prized industrial region, even if a peace settlement ends the nearly four-year war a possibility that is likely to be rejected by Ukrainian officials as U.S.-led negotiations drag on.Moscow will give its blessing to a ceasefire only after Ukraines forces have withdrawn from the front line, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said in comments published Friday in Russian business daily Kommersant.Ushakov told Kommersant its entirely possible that there wont be any troops (in the Donbas), either Russian or Ukrainian in a postwar scenario.But he said that there will be the National Guard, our police, everything necessary to maintain order and organize life.For months, American negotiators have tried to navigate the demands of each side as U.S. President Donald Trump presses for a swift end to Russias war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into a major obstacle over who keeps Ukrainian territory that Russian forces have occupied so far. Since Moscows 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and the seizure of territory in the east by Russia-backed separatists later that year, as well as land taken after the full-blown invasion was launched on Feb. 24, 2022, Russia has captured about 20% of its neighbor. Ukraine says its constitution doesnt allow it to surrender land. Russia, which illegally annexed Donetsk and three other regions illegally in 2022, says the same. Ushakov said that no matter what the outcome (of peace talks), this territory (the Donbas) is Russian Federation territory. On Thursday, Trump compared the negotiations to a very complex real estate deal. He said that he wants to see more progress in talks before sending envoys to possible meetings with European leaders over the weekend.In October Trump said the Donbas region will have to be cut up to end the war. Ukrainian counterattacksIn recent months, Russias army has made a determined push to gain control of all parts of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, which together make up the valuable Donbas region.Its slow slog across the Ukrainian countryside, using its significant advantage in troop numbers in a corrosive war of attrition, has been costly in terms of casualties and losses of armor. Although outnumbered, Ukrainian defenders have held firm in many areas and counterattacked in others.Ukrainian forces said Friday that they had recaptured several settlements and neighborhoods near the city of Kupiansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region, following a monthslong operation aimed at reversing Russian advances.Kupiansk has in recent months been one of the most closely contested sectors of the around 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.Ukrainian units gradually cut off Russian supply routes into Kupiansk starting on Sept. 22, and regained control of the villages of Kindrashivka and Radkivka, as well as several northern districts of the city, according to a statement by the National Guards Khartia Corps posted on Facebook. Fighting is ongoing in central Kupiansk now, where more than 200 Russian soldiers are encircled, the statement said.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video of himself standing on the road into Kupiansk on Friday. Explosions could be heard in the background as he spoke.Today, it is critically important to achieve results on the battlefield so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy, Zelenskyy said in the video, praising his troops on Ukraines Ground Forces Day.Russian officials made no immediate comment, and the Ukrainians statements couldnt be independently verified.At the end of October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian troops in Kupiansk were surrounded and offered to negotiate their surrender. He said that a media visit to the area would prove it.Ukraine also has developed its long-range strike capabilities using domestically produced weapons to disrupt Russias war machine. Its Special Operations Forces, or SSO, said Friday that an operation in the Caspian Sea struck two Russian vessels carrying military equipment and arms.The ships named Kompozitor Rakhmaninov and Askar-Saridzha are under U.S. sanctions for transporting arms between Russia and Iran, the SSO said in a statement on social media. It didnt say what weapons it used in its attack.Cross-border drone strikesA Ukrainian drone attack wounded seven people, including a child, in the Russian city of Tver, acting Gov. Vitaly Korolev said Friday. Falling drone debris struck an apartment bulding in the city, which lies northwest of Moscow, Korolev said.Russias air defenses destroyed 90 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russias Defense Ministry said.Russian drones struck a residential area of Pavlohrad, in Ukraines central Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding four others, the head of the local military administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko, wrote on Telegram Friday. Ukraines southern Odesa region came under a large-scale drone attack overnight, according to regional chief Oleh Kiper. The attack damaged energy infrastructure, he said. More than 90,000 people were without electricity on Friday morning, Deputy Energy Minister Roman Andarak said.Ukraines air force said that Russia launched 80 drones across the country during the night.___Dasha Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine DASHA LITVINOVA Litvinova is an Associated Press correspondent covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is part of the team that covers the Russia-Ukraine war. She has covered Russia and the region for over a decade. twitter mailto ILLIA NOVIKOV Novikov is an Associated Press reporter covering news in Ukraine since 2022. He is based in Kyiv. instagram mailto