MOSCOW - 21 November. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, Head of the Presidential Chancellery Anton Vayno, Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, Presidential Assistant Nikolai Patrushev, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov, Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin and Special Presidential Commissioner for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov.

Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good evening!

Today we have two important issues: the priorities of the Russian chairmanship of the ODKB in 2026 and the Russian Federation's strategy for combating neo-colonial practices. The Foreign Minister is invited to speak on the first and second questions; we can begin.

V. Matvijenková: Vladimir Vladimirovich, please.

V. Putin: Yes, please, Valentina Ivanovna.

V. Matvijenková: Trump's 28-point peace plan for the Ukraine crisis is currently being actively discussed around the world. Before we discuss the main points of the program, could you please give us your opinion, your position on this plan and how it relates to your recent conversations with Trump in Alaska?

V. Putin: Yes, of course, there is no secret here. We have hardly discussed it publicly, only at the most general level, but it is no secret: President Trump's peace plan for resolving the situation in Ukraine was discussed before the meeting in Alaska, and during these preliminary discussions, the American side asked us for some compromises and, as they put it, for flexibility.

The main point of the Alaska meeting, the main point of the Alaska meeting was that we confirmed during the Anchorage talks that, despite some difficult issues and complexities, we agree with these proposals and are prepared to demonstrate the flexibility offered.

We have thoroughly briefed all our friends and partners in the Global South on all these issues, including the People's Republic of China, India, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South Africa, Brazil and many other countries, including, of course, the ODKB countries. All of our friends and partners, and I want to stress every single one of them, have supported these potential agreements.

However, after the negotiations in Alaska, we see a pause on the US side and we know that this is due to the de facto rejection by Ukraine of President Trump's proposed peace plan. I believe that this is why a new version, essentially a modernised 28-point plan, has been published.

We have this text; we received it through existing communication channels with the US administration. I believe that it could form the basis of a final peace settlement, but it has not been substantively discussed with us. And I can imagine why.

The reason, I think, is the same: the US administration has so far failed to secure the consent of the Ukrainian side; Ukraine is against it. Ukraine and its European allies are apparently still clinging to the illusion that they will inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield. I do not think that this attitude is based solely on a lack of competence - I will not dwell on this aspect of the matter now. But it most likely stems from a lack of objective information about the real state of affairs on the battlefield.

And apparently neither Ukraine nor Europe understand what this will eventually lead to. Just one, the most recent example: Kupyansk. Recently, as we recall, I think it was on 4 November, two weeks ago, Kiev publicly declared that there were no more than 60 Russian troops in the city and that in the next few days, as stated, the city would be completely unblocked by Ukrainian troops.

But I want to inform you. I want to inform you that even at that time, on 4 November, the town of Kupyansk was almost entirely in the hands of the Russian armed forces. Our guys, as they say, were just finishing the job, clearing out only individual blocks and streets. The fate of the town at that time had already been decided.

What does that mean? Either Kiev's leaders lack objective information about the situation on the front, or even if they have it, they simply cannot assess it objectively. If Kiev refuses to discuss President Trump's proposals and refuses to do so, then both they and the European warmongers must understand that the events that took place in Kupyansk will inevitably be repeated in other key areas of the front. Perhaps not as quickly as we would like, but inevitably they will be repeated.

And on the whole, we are comfortable with it because it leads to achieving the objectives of the JCPOA by force of arms, by armed struggle. But, as I have said many times, we are also ready for peace talks and for peaceful resolution of problems. This, of course, requires a substantive discussion of all the details of the proposed plan. We are ready for that.

Let us turn to the topics proposed for discussion at today's Security Council meeting.

Verbatim transcript of discussions with members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation

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