President Vladimir Putin has warned again that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from Ukraine's eastern Donbas region or Russia will seize it, rejecting any compromise over how to end the war in Ukraine, BBC reported.

"Either we liberate these territories by force, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories," he told India Today. Moscow controls around 85% of Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory, according to BBC.