Kremlin: 10% of Donetsk Region Remains to Be Captured, Buffer Zone Excluded from Ukraine Talks

The Kremlin's framing separates what it presents as unfinished military objectives from what it is willing to discuss, which narrows the scope of any future negotiation before talks even begin. Excluding a security zone from talks signals that territorial control on the ground, not the negotiating table, is being treated as the deciding factor. For markets watching the war's trajectory, the open question is whether this position hardens further or shifts as conditions on the ground change.