Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly made ownership of the contested Donbas region of eastern Ukraine the price for a peace agreement to end the war.
According to multiple media reports, during his Alaska meeting with President Donald Trump, Putin is said to have relayed that Moscow would be willing to end the war if Kyiv relinquishes the Eastern territory comprised of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
The Russian leader also reportedly offered to freeze the current battle lines in the other Ukrainian provinces of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
In exchange, according to the New York Times, Putin offered to pen a written pledge never to attack Ukraine or any other country in Europe.
Although Russia currently controls the vast majority of the Donbas region, Ukrainian forces have managed to maintain a heavily fortified area of control, meaning that should the deal be accepted, Kyiv’s forces would have to retreat from the territories.
The Times of London reported that Putin told President Trump that the Ukrainian line in the Donbas is on the verge of collapse anyway and that Russia would soon take over the entire mineral-rich region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly denied that his forces were on the back foot and has consistently rejected the idea of handing over control of the Donbas to Russia officially, a move which is currently prohibited by the Ukrainian constitution.
Zelensky, who said that he plans on meeting with Trump in Washington on Monday, wrote on Telegram: “All issues that are important for Ukraine should be discussed with the participation of Ukraine, and no issues, in particular territorial ones, should be resolved without Ukraine.”
In addition to disputes over territory, a key remaining sticking point appears to be over Ukraine’s potential membership in the Western NATO military alliance.
While Russia has staunchly opposed such a move, citing it as one of the factors that precipitated the 2022 invasion, European allies demanded on Saturday that Kyiv maintain its national self-determination on issues like NATO and potential EU membership.
However, the White House has reportedly made overtures suggesting that American military might could be on the table to ensure a security guarantee for Ukraine. European and British leaders have also expressed a willingness to send troops to the country as a security guarantor.
Separately on Saturday, the leaders of eight Baltic and Northern European nations vowed to continue supporting Ukraine militarily, saying in a statement: “We will continue to arm Ukraine and enhance Europe’s defences to deter further Russian aggression. As long as Russia continues its killing, we will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia’s war economy.”
Despite not having come to a firm agreement with Putin during his Alaska summit, President Trump hailed the meeting as having made “great” progress towards peace. In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, the president suggested that the parameters of a deal were “largely agreed” and that the ball is now in Zelensky’s court, adding that Kyiv has “gotta make a deal”.
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