Russia demands Ukraine’s Donetsk withdrawal as ceasefire condition, Putin tells Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin has pressed for Ukraine to withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region as a condition to end the war, while offering to freeze the rest of the frontline if his demands are accepted, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Putin made the request during his meeting with Trump in Alaska on Friday, the FT said, citing four people with direct knowledge of the talks.

In exchange for the Donetsk region, Putin said he would freeze the frontline in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the report said.

Putin’s visit to Alaska was his first to the United States in 10 years and his first to a Western country since invading Ukraine in 2022 and plunging U.S.-Russia relations to the lowest point since the Cold War. Crippling sanctions followed, along with efforts to shun Russia on the global stage.

Trump moves away from Ukraine war ceasefire demand

On Saturday, three hours of talks between the White House and Kremlin leaders at an Alaska air base produced no breakthrough but Trump and European leaders said they wanted a new summit that includes Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky will now go to Washington on Monday while European leaders said they were ready to intensify sanctions against Russia after Trump briefed them on the summit.

Trump remained upbeat, calling the summit “a great and very successful day in Alaska!” in a Truth Social post. The US president added that European leaders had backed his plan for a new summit.

“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up,” he added.