During negotiations with US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that among the key conditions for a resolution of the war in Ukraine is the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk). Trump discussed this during telephone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and EU leaders, Bloomberg news reports. At the same time, Russia allegedly no longer insists on the transfer to it of the territories of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions that it does not actually control.
According to the Financial Times, Putin made it clear that Ukraine’s withdrawal from Donbas could be a condition for freezing the front line. In this case, Russia would retain the territories it had previously captured in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. At the same time, as FT sources note, the Russian leader is not abandoning his demands to eliminate the ‘root causes’ of the conflict, including NATO’s eastward expansion.
After the meeting, Trump said in an interview with Fox News that now ‘everything depends on President Zelensky.’ The American president did not disclose the specific details of the proposed deal, but according to the FT, it may involve territorial concessions by Ukraine. In a telephone conversation with Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, according to Reuters, rejected the proposal to freeze the front line in exchange for the surrender of Donbas. Earlier, after meeting with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, Zelensky stated that ‘Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.’
Interestingly, during a conference call with European leaders, Trump called for an end to demands for an immediate ceasefire on Russia’s part. Before meeting with Putin, he himself had argued that negotiations should lead to a cessation of hostilities, threatening ‘very serious consequences’ in the event of a violation. After the summit, the American president said that it was more important to agree on a peace agreement than on a ceasefire, which is often not observed.
Security guarantees for Ukraine were also discussed at the meeting in Anchorage. According to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, they will be ‘inspired’ by Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty, but NATO as an organisation will not be involved in them. European leaders said that the US is ready to take action in the event of new aggression against Ukraine. Commenting on these initiatives, Putin said he agreed with Trump on the issue of ensuring Ukraine’s security and was ready to work on it. Agence France-Presse, citing diplomatic sources, reports that the US proposal for guarantees ‘similar to Article 5, but without NATO’ has reportedly been agreed with Putin.
The Ukrainian president will meet with Trump in Washington on 18 August. The possibility of a trilateral meeting with Putin remains unclear: Zelensky supports such an initiative, Trump is confident of the Russian leader’s consent, while Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said that the topic of a trilateral meeting was not discussed at the summit. European leaders have also been invited to the meeting.
At the same time, Zelensky warns of possible attempts by Russia to increase pressure and attacks on Ukrainian positions in order to create ‘more favourable political circumstances’ for negotiations. According to him, Ukrainian troops continue to make progress in some difficult areas of the Donetsk region, including the Dobropillya and Pokrovsk directions, despite the recent breakthrough of the Ukrainian army’s defences northeast of Pokrovsk.
