Russia foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
Credit: Reuters photo
Moscow: Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday that the issue of who gets what territory was not the only one holding up a potential deal to end the fighting in Ukraine.
Russia wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the roughly 20% of Donetsk region which the Russian army does not control. Kyiv has said it does not want to gift Moscow territory which Russia has not won on the battlefield.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that active work was under way to reconcile the issue at U.S.-mediated talks. He described the disagreement as a key remaining issue that was "very difficult" to resolve.
When asked on Thursday whether he agreed that the territorial question was the only outstanding one, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said: "I don't think so."