Reports confirmed Thursday that the Russian President outlined his conditions for halting military operations in Ukraine during a meeting with President Donald Trump in Alaska less than a week ago.
Reuters reported that Moscow’s demands – which include no NATO membership for Ukraine, no Western troops stationed in Ukraine, and the surrender of the Donbas region – were formally presented to Washington on Friday, as per sources close to the Kremlin’s negotiations.
The report further stated that Putin was willing to freeze the current front lines in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia and cede some captured territory in the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
Digital was unable to independently confirm this information, although it appears to be a departure from Putin’s 2024 demand that Kyiv surrender all four regions illegally annexed by Moscow in 2022: Donetsk, Luhansk (which comprises the Donbas), Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia.
However, Putin’s seeming adjustment in demands follows several years of Russia’s inability to significantly advance its front lines.
After the initial invasion in February 2022, Russian forces rapidly took control of vast areas. Yet, by late summer of the same year, Ukraine launched successful counteroffensives, reclaiming substantial territory in Kherson and Kharkiv.
Nevertheless, since 2023, the front lines have largely been static, with Russia reportedly controlling less than 20% of Ukraine, including an estimated 7% seized during its 2014 full occupation of Crimea and parts of the Donbas.
Russian forces control approximately 88% of the Donbas, almost the entire Luhansk region, and roughly 75% of .
The combined Russian-controlled territory in Sumy and Kharkiv is estimated at approximately 150 square miles, with a much smaller portion in Dnipropetrovsk.
A senior defense official noted that Putin’s demands were not surprising and expressed suspicion that he might expand his list of conditions later.
The official, who spoke to Digital anonymously, stated, “Whatever helps to stall.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov caused geopolitical surprise this week when he asserted that Moscow has “never talked about the need to seize any territories.”
Instead, his remarks heightened concerns that Putin’s ultimate objective in the war is the control of Kyiv, rather than the physical occupation of all Ukraine, which Russian forces have failed to achieve.
Lavrov stated that the Kremlin’s aim is to “protect” Ukrainians from their government, contending that “there can be no talk of any long-term agreements” with Kyiv “without respect” for Russia’s security and the rights of Russian speakers in Ukraine, as reported by the Institute for the Study of War this week.
“These are the reasons that require urgent elimination within the framework of a settlement,” Lavrov further remarked.
Apprehension regarding Ukraine’s sovereignty and autonomy had been growing significantly prior to Russia’s 2022 invasion, particularly after the outbreak of following the disputed 2020 re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, a key Putin ally who has effectively made Belarus a puppet state of Russia.
Unease grew when Putin authored an essay contending that Ukraine and Belarus should not exist independently of Russia. By year-end, security experts were warning that Putin planned to invade Ukraine.
The White House did not immediately provide a response to Digital’s inquiries.