Putin calls Trump’s peace plan a ‘starting point’ as he warns Ukraine to pull back or face 'force'

Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed interest in using President Trump’s peace plan as a negotiating departure point to end the nearly four-year war between Ukraine and Russia. "We need to sit down and discuss this seriously," Putin told reporters at the end of a three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan, according to an Associated Press report. He added, "Every word matters." Putin described U.S. President Donald Trump ’s plan as "a set of issues put forward for discussion" rather than a draft agreement. Russia WARNS IT MAY REJECT US-Ukraine PEACE PLAN IF IT FAILS TO UPHOLD ALASKA SUMMIT 'UNDERSTANDINGS' "If Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territories they occupy, hostilities will cease. If they don’t withdraw, we will achieve this by force," the Russian strongman said. Andy Barr, R-Ky., a House Foreign Affairs Committee member, told Fox News Digital the situation reinforces the need for strong American leadership. "Russia invaded Ukraine because Joe Biden was the weakest president in American history." Barr, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky said, "President Trump’s peace-through-strength leadership kept Putin fully contained. This war never would have happened under his watch. Trump is the peace president… the only leader who can end this war and bring stability back to Europe." However, Putin critics believe he is seeking to trick the U.S. and the European Union. The former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who predicted Putin’s jingoism and invasion of Ukraine, told the Polish international news network TVP that "Peace under Putin is unachievable for one simple reason: Putin is war — and Russia is gearing up for even more." Kasparov has also criticized NATO, Trump and the EU for failing to defend Ukraine and evict Russia from Ukraine’s entire territory. "We owe them everything," Kasparov recently said about Ukraine at the Halifax International Security Forum. MOMENTUM BUILDS IN Ukraine PEACE PUSH, BUT EXPERTS FEAR PUTIN WON’T BUDGE Kremlin officials have had little to say so far about the peace plan put forward last week by Trump. Putin has been recalcitrant about accepting previous Trump plans to end the war. Putin has demanded that Ukraine completely withdraw from the entirety of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions before Russia considers any sort of "peace negotiations" — notably including areas of each of those oblasts that Russia does not occupy. He also wants to keep Ukraine from joining NATO and hosting any Western troops, allowing Moscow to gradually pull the country back into its orbit. The Institute for the Study of War on Wednesday cast doubt on Russian claims that its invasion is unstoppable as it is still struggling to capture cities in the eastern Donetsk region . "Data on Russian forces’ rate of advance indicates that a Russian military victory in Ukraine is not inevitable, and a rapid Russian seizure of the rest of Donetsk Oblast is not imminent," the Washington-based think tank said. "Recent Russian advances elsewhere on the front line have largely been opportunistic and exploited seasonal weather conditions. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow next week, the Kremlin says, while U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who in recent weeks has played a high-profile role in the peace efforts, may be heading to Kyiv. The initial U.S. peace proposal was criticized for being skewed toward Russian demands, but an amended version emerged from talks in Geneva on Sunday between American and Ukrainian officials. Sidelined European leaders, fearing for their own security amid Russian aggression, are angling for deeper involvement in the process. The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.