Published on: Aug 16, 2025 08:35 pm IST
Donald Trump communicated Vladimir Putin’s demand to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in a call on Saturday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward a demand that Ukraine needs to withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region as a condition for ending Moscow’s war with Kyiv during the Alaska Summit with US President Donald Trump on Friday.
However, Putin also told Trump that if his core demands were met, he would be open to freezing the rest of the frontline, the Financial Times reported.
According to the report, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders on Saturday to communicate Putin’s demand. He also urged Ukraine and Europe to drop efforts to secure a ceasefire from Moscow.
Russia has been in partial control of the Donetsk region for more than a decade. If Putin’s demand is met, he will get control of the territory where his forces have made the most gains in the war since November last year.
What is Vladimir Putin willing to let go in exchange for full control over Donetsk?
According to the FT report, Vladimir Putin has said that in exchange for the Donetsk region, he would freeze the frontline in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where his forces occupy large swaths of land, and not launch new attacks to take more territory.
Putin made it clear to Donald Trump that his core demand of addressing ‘the root causes’ of the conflict still stands. He wants NATO’s eastward expansion to end, meaning Ukraine would not be allowed to join the alliance.
But he is reportedly prepared to compromise on other issues, including territory, if he is satisfied that the “root causes” are addressed.
The Russian control over Donetsk
Russian forces control about 70 percent of the Donetsk region. Ukraine still has control over the region’s westernmost chain of cities, which are said to be critical to Kyiv’s military operation and defences along the eastern front.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he would not swap territory with Russia and would not allow a second partition of the country. He is meeting Trump on Monday in Washington, where this topic will certainly come up.
