Russian President Vladimir Putin is urging Ukraine to give up the entire eastern Donbas region, abandon ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of its territory, three sources familiar with Kremlin thinking told Reuters.
Putin met with Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday for the first Russian-U.S. summit in more than four years, with almost all of their three-hour closed-door meeting devoted to discussing a possible compromise on Ukraine, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issues.
After the meeting, Putin said he hoped the talk would pave the way for peace in Ukraine, but neither The two leaders did not reveal details of what was discussed.
According to the most detailed report yet, based on Russian sources, Reuters was able to outline the parameters of what the Kremlin would like to see in a possible agreement to end the war, which has left hundreds of thousands dead and injured.
The Russian source points out that Putin has compromised on the territorial demands he set out in June 2024, when Kiev had to hand over the four provinces that Moscow considers part of Russia: Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine (Donbass), as well as Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south. Kiev rejected these terms as tantamount to capitulation.
In the new proposal, the Russian president demands that Ukraine withdraw completely from the parts of Donbas it controls, but in return, Moscow would freeze the front lines in Zaporizhia and Kherson, the sources added.
Russia controls about 88% of Donbas and 73% of Zaporizhia and Kherson, according to US estimates and open sources.
Moscow is also ready to hand over small areas of Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipro regions that it controls as part of a possible deal, the sources said.
Putin continues to insist that Ukraine abandon its NATO ambitions and for a legally binding guarantee from the US-led military organization that it will not expand eastward. The Russian president also wants restrictions on the Ukrainian army and an agreement that Western troops will not be deployed to the country as part of a peacekeeping force.
However, the two countries remain far apart, more than three years after Putin ordered the invasion of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and ongoing fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the east.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on the proposal.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly rejected the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognized Ukrainian territories as part of a deal, saying the industrial Donbas is a “stronghold that stops Russia's advance deeper into Ukraine“.
“If we talk simply about withdrawing from the east, that is impossible. "This is a matter of our country's survival and involves the strongest lines of defense," Zelensky told reporters, according to a report from Kiev.
Joining NATO is a strategic goal enshrined in the country's constitution and, according to Kiev, is the most reliable guarantee of Ukraine's security. Zelensky stressed that Russia has no right to decide on membership in the alliance.
The White House and NATO did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Russian proposals.
Political scientist Samuel Charap, head of the Russia and Eurasia Policy Department at RAND, a US global think tank, said that the demand that Ukraine withdraw from Donbas is categorically unacceptable to Kiev both politically and strategically.
“Openness to 'peace' on terms categorically unacceptable to the other side may be more of a show for Trump than a sign of a genuine willingness to compromise. The only way to test this is by starting a serious work process at the expert level,“ Charap added.
Trump: Putin wants to end the war
Russian troops control about a fifth of Ukraine's territory, an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Ohio, according to U.S. estimates and open sources.
The three sources close to the Kremlin said the Alaska summit provided the best opportunity for peace since the war began because specific Russian conditions were discussed and Putin showed a willingness to make concessions.
“Putin is ready for peace, for compromise. That's the message that was conveyed to Trump,“ said one of the sources.
The sources warned that it was unclear whether Ukraine would agree to hand over the rest of Donbas, and that if it did not, the war would continue. It was also unclear whether the United States would recognize Russian-controlled Ukrainian territories, they added.
A fourth source noted that while economic issues were secondary to Putin, he understood Russia's vulnerability and the scale of the effort needed to further penetrate Ukraine.
Trump has said he wants to end the "bloodbath" of the war and be remembered as a "peacemaker president." On Monday, he announced that he had begun organizing a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian sides, followed by a trilateral summit with the U.S. president.
"I believe Vladimir Putin wants this to end," Trump told Zelensky in the Oval Office. “I feel confident that we will find a solution.“
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Putin was ready to meet with Zelensky, but first all issues must be clarified and that the question of Zelensky's legitimacy to sign a peace agreement remained.
Putin has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of Zelensky, whose presidency expires in May 2024, but the war has postponed new elections. Kiev maintains that Zelensky remains the legitimate president.
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany have expressed skepticism that Putin really wants to end the war.
Guarantees for Ukraine's security
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkov is playing a key role in organizing the summit and the new peace initiative, according to two Russian sources.
Witkov met with Putin in the Kremlin on August 6 along with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. Putin has made it clear that he is ready to compromise and has outlined the parameters of what he would consider a peace agreement, according to the two sources.
If Russia and Ukraine reach an agreement, there are various options for a formal deal, including a possible trilateral agreement between Russia, Ukraine and the United States, recognized by the UN Security Council, one of the sources said.
Another option is a return to the failed Istanbul agreements in 2022, in which Russia and Ukraine discussed Ukraine’s continued neutrality in exchange for security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
“There are two choices: war or peace, and if there is no peace, there will be more war,” one of the sources said.