Moscow, 12 December 2025 (dpa/MIA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov on Thursday announced the capture of the eastern Ukrainian town of Siversk, clearing the way for further advances.

This means that other successful attacks in other directions in the eastern Donbass region are now possible, Putin said at the meeting broadcast on state television and partly via video link.

The Ukrainian side did not initially comment officially on the alleged fall of the town.

The Russian military has said its next objective is to take the town of Sloviansk, which was home to more than 100,000 people before the start of the war in 2022.

Putin praised the "dynamism" on the front line, appearing almost exuberant by his usually reserved standards and heaping praise on the troops like "magnificent, lads," and "I embrace you tightly."

The strategic initiative is fully in the hands of the Russian military, he said, adding that the conquest of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions is progressing.

Putin did not mention the ongoing negotiations to end the war or US President Donald Trump's peace plan.

He previously described Trump's proposals as a basis for talks, but clearly stated that Russia could achieve its goals on the battlefield if Kiev rejects Moscow's terms for a settlement.

For example, Putin is demanding that Ukraine hand over the eastern Donbass region in its entirety in exchange for a ceasefire – in other words, that Kiev withdraws from areas that it still controls. Ukraine has always categorically rejected this.

At Thursday's meeting, Putin reaffirmed the goal of "expelling Ukrainian formations from our territory and restoring peaceful life on the soil of the Donbass."

Moscow declared in September 2022 that it had annexed Donbass - comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - and incorporated it into its constitution as Russian territory, but still does not  control the entire area.

Ukrainian lawmaker accuses army leadership of lying

On Wednesday, the General Staff in Kiev claimed that attacks near Siversk had been repelled. Ukrainian military bloggers marked most of the town as contested on their maps but not under Russian control.

However, independent lawmaker Maryana Bezuhla wrote on Telegram on Tuesday that Siversk had already been taken. "The army leadership is hiding this and lying," she said.

Siversk and the Bakhmutka River running through the town are the last major obstacles on the way to Sloviansk. Before the war, around 11,000 people lived in Siversk.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion since February 2022 with massive help from Western allies.

Since November, when a US proposal outlining a potential framework for ending the war became public, several rounds of discussions have taken place between Washington, Kiev and European partners, with various amendments and counterproposals made.

Critics had described the initial US plan as a "wish list for Russia."

A key issue is the set of security guarantees the US and others would offer Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement.

Ukraine's response to the latest version of the US peace plan also addresses the question of territorial concessions, a main sticking point in negotiations to end the war launched by Russia.

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-chaired a virtual meeting with Zelensky, the leaders of Germany, France and officials from about 30 other nations as the flurry of talks continued in a bid to end the war with Russia.

MIA file photo