Putin demands Ukraine hand over Donbas in exchange for ending the war – The Washington Post
Трамп і Путін. Фото - Reuters
During a phone call with Donald Trump this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Kyiv hand over full control of the Donetsk region to Moscow as a condition for ending the war against Ukraine.
The Washington Post reported this, citing two senior officials familiar with the conversation.
According to sources, in response, the Russian leader proposed abandoning claims to parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which are partially occupied.
“This is a somewhat less ambitious territorial demand than the one Putin made in Anchorage in August. Some White House officials even viewed it as a sign of progress,” WP quotes one of its sources as saying.
At the same time, another high-ranking official, a European diplomat, emphasized that Ukraine is unlikely to take such a proposal seriously:
“It’s like selling them their leg for nothing.”
Trump himself has not publicly commented on Putin’s demands regarding Donbass and did not support them in his statement after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to the publication, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, during a meeting with the Ukrainian delegation on Friday, pressured Kyiv to agree to the transfer of the region, arguing that Donbas is “predominantly Russian-speaking.”
The WP article notes that the Russian language has never been an indicator of pro-Russian sympathies in Ukraine—many citizens, including Zelensky himself, grew up in a Russian-speaking environment.
Ukraine, according to the publication, supported Trump’s call for a ceasefire on the current front lines, but seeks clear security guarantees from the US and its European partners to prevent a possible resumption of aggression by Russia.
The results of the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting have already been reported. The leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, arms supplies, including Tomahawk missiles, and prospects for ending the war. Incidentally, “Pryamoy” has compiled a collection of memes circulating online following the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting.
As a reminder, Trump previously avoided a direct answer to the question of whether Ukraine should cede territory to achieve peace with Russia.
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