Russia-backed separatist leader suggests Ukraine surrender new territory

The Russian-backed separatist leader of a Ukrainian breakaway region said on Wednesday that Ukrainian government forces should withdraw from territory that his self-proclaimed state lays claim to and take their weapons with them.

TASS cited Denis Pushilin, head of the "Donetsk People's Republic", as telling Russian state media that such a scenario would be the optimal one.

Russia this week recognised two breakaway Ukrainian regions, including Pushilin's, as independent states.

The separatists lay claim to a much larger swath of territory in Ukraine than they currently control.