U.S. proposals to end the war between Russia and Ukraine offer a starting point for talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

"We need to sit down and discuss this seriously," Putin told reporters at the end of a three-day visit to Kyrgyzstan. He described U.S. President Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan as "a set of issues put forward for discussion" rather than a draft agreement.

"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 leader said.

Kremlin officials have had little to say so far about the peace plan put forward last week by Trump. Since Russia's invasion of its neighbor, Putin has shown no willingness to budge from his goals in Ukraine despite

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