Saturday, March 29, 2025
August 22, 2025 – In a surprising shift, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled flexibility toward ending the ongoing war in Ukraine, putting forward three main conditions for a ceasefire. The proposals emerged during his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska, according to diplomatic sources.
Putin has asked Ukraine to:
Cede the entire Donbas region (Donetsk and Luhansk) to Russia.
Abandon its bid for NATO membership and remain militarily neutral.
Ban deployment of Western troops on Ukrainian territory.
In return, Moscow is reportedly ready to halt fighting along the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson fronts and could even pull back from parts of Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
This represents a softening of Putin’s earlier demands made in June 2024, when he insisted Ukraine surrender all four occupied regions—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Now, his focus has narrowed primarily to Donbas.
Putin also wants legal guarantees from NATO and the United States that the alliance will not expand further eastward.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky swiftly rejected the proposals, declaring:
“It is impossible to give up Donbas. This is about our national survival and our strongest defensive line.”
He stressed that NATO membership remains a strategic goal enshrined in Ukraine’s constitution, calling it Kyiv’s most reliable security guarantee.
President Trump, who described the conflict as a “bloody war,” expressed optimism about ending it.
“I believe Vladimir Putin wants peace. We will solve this,” Trump said after meeting Zelensky.
His administration is now preparing for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine, which could be followed by a triangular summit involving the U.S., Russia, and Ukraine. Trump has made it clear he wants to be remembered as a “peacemaker president.”
Despite Trump’s enthusiasm, skepticism remains in Europe. Leaders of Britain, France, and Germany voiced doubts about whether Putin is genuinely committed to ending the war, citing his history of shifting demands.
According to Russian sources, any eventual deal could be formalized as a tripartite peace agreement approved by the United Nations Security Council. Another possibility would be reviving the Istanbul talks of 2022, which explored Ukraine’s permanent neutrality and international security guarantees.
⚖️ The developments highlight a rare opening for diplomacy but also underscore the sharp divide between Russia’s demands and Ukraine’s uncompromising stance on territorial integrity.
