Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as a condition for ending the war, according to sources with direct knowledge of talks between Putin and US President Donald Trump at the Alaska summit. In exchange, Putin reportedly offered to halt further advances and freeze the frontline in the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces occupy significant areas.
Although Luhansk is almost entirely under Russian control, Ukraine still holds key parts of Donetsk, including the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, as well as heavily fortified positions whose defence has cost tens of thousands of lives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently rejected any territorial concessions, and European allies reaffirmed that Ukraine’s borders must not be altered through force.
The summit between Trump and Putin also saw the US president hand-deliver a personal letter from first lady Melania Trump, reportedly mentioning the abduction of children resulting from the war. Following the meeting, Trump told European leaders he supported a plan to end the war by ceding unconquered land to Russia, according to two senior European officials. Trump is set to discuss the plan with Zelenskyy during his visit to the White House on Monday.
Ukrainian officials expressed concern over the apparent shift in US tone after Putin’s demands. A senior Ukrainian official described the demands as “a stab in the back.” Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed US openness to providing security guarantees to Ukraine as part of peace efforts.
Separately, US government planning documents for the summit were accidentally left in a hotel printer in Anchorage and later published by NPR. The Ukrainian military reported pushing Russian forces back by about 2km on part of the Sumy front, though Russia controls over 200 sq km in the region.
