Putin Plans Donbas Takeover by 2025 — Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with ABC News that Vladimir Putin had informed U.S. officials, including the White House and special envoy Steve Witkoff, of his intention to seize the Donbas region by the end of 2025, Orda.kz reports, citing The Kyiv Independent. 

According to Zelenskyy, Putin claimed he could achieve this goal in a matter of months.

That is, he (Putin) says that in three to four months, and this is what he told the Americans, the White House, and President Trump’s representative Witkoff, he said that he would take Donbas in two to three months, maximum four months,  Zelenskyy said.

The Donbas, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, has been under partial Russian occupation since 2014, when Moscow launched its initial invasion. 

Zelenskyy warned that the cost of Russia’s ambitions could be staggering, saying it might stretch over “years and a million people,” or result in “two or three million corpses” should Moscow press ahead with an accelerated offensive.