Putin Presses New Demands in Alaska Summit with Trump, Seeks Ukraine Withdrawal from Donbas

Anchorage, August 22, 2025 — Russian President Vladimir Putin is pressing Ukraine to withdraw from the entire Donbas region, abandon its NATO ambitions, and accept neutrality with no Western troops on its soil, according to three sources familiar with high-level Kremlin deliberations.

Putin outlined these terms during a three-hour closed-door summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday — the first Russia-U.S. leaders’ meeting in more than four years. While both leaders spoke afterwards of a possible “road to peace,” neither disclosed specific details.

According to Russian sources, Putin’s latest proposal reflects a partial retreat from his maximalist demands of June 2024, when he insisted Kyiv cede all four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Under the new terms, Russia seeks full Ukrainian withdrawal from the remaining parts of Donbas still under Kyiv’s control. In exchange, Moscow would freeze its lines in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, though it currently controls 73% of those territories and about 88% of the Donbas.

Moscow is also willing to return small pockets of territory it holds in Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk, the sources said. But Putin remains firm on demands for NATO non-expansion, restrictions on Ukraine’s armed forces, and a ban on any Western troop deployments in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s leadership has rejected such proposals outright. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated on Thursday that withdrawing from internationally recognized territory was “not an option,” calling the Donbas Ukraine’s “fortress” against further Russian advances. NATO membership, enshrined in Ukraine’s constitution, remains a central strategic goal.

The White House and NATO offered no immediate response to the reported terms. Analysts, however, remain skeptical. Samuel Charap, a Russia specialist at the RAND Corporation, said: “Any requirement for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas is a non-starter. Openness to ‘peace’ on unacceptable terms may be more a performance for Trump than a genuine compromise.”

Despite doubts, Russian officials portrayed the Anchorage talks as the most promising opening since the war began in 2022. “Putin is ready for peace — for compromise,” one source said, though cautioning that if Kyiv refuses to cede the Donbas, hostilities will continue.

The war, now in its fourth year, has left Russia controlling roughly one-fifth of Ukraine — an area comparable in size to the U.S. state of Ohio.

Trump, who has vowed to end what he calls the “bloodbath” in Ukraine, said he would pursue follow-up meetings between Putin and Zelenskyy, culminating in a potential three-way summit under U.S. auspices. “I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended,” Trump said at the White House alongside Zelenskyy. “I feel confident we are going to get it solved.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that Putin is open to meeting Zelenskyy but stressed that preliminary issues must first be resolved. The Kremlin has also raised doubts over Zelenskyy’s legitimacy, as Ukraine postponed elections after his presidential term formally expired in May 2024. Kyiv insists he remains the lawful head of state.

Western leaders remain cautious. Britain, France, and Germany have expressed skepticism that Moscow genuinely seeks peace.

Trump’s special envoy, businessman Steve Witkoff, played a key role in arranging the Alaska summit, meeting with Putin and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov earlier this month. Russian sources said Putin signaled willingness to revive frameworks similar to the 2022 Istanbul talks, which had envisaged Ukrainian neutrality in exchange for international security guarantees.

As one Russian source put it: “There are two choices: war or peace. And if there is no peace, then there will be more war.”