During the historical summit with the Donald Trump Friday (15.08.2025) in Alaska, the Vladimir Putin He presented what Moscow considers as the outline of a possible peace agreement in Ukraine.
According to three sources close to the Kremlin cited by Reuters, Vladimir Putin dedicated almost his three -hour meeting with Donald Trump to explain his conditions in detail.
Donbas at the center of the requirements
The Russian president demands that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas departments that still control Kiev. In return, Moscow will freeze the current lines of the front in the southern areas of Hersona and Zaporizia, where Russian forces already control almost three -quarters of the territory. Russia is also ready to return small sections of the Harkov, Sumi and Dnipro areas it has occupied.
This proposal is a retreat over the requirements of June 2024, when the Kremlin demanded the recognition of the annexation of four whole provinces – Donetsk, Luhank, Hersona and Zaporizia.
Neutrality and veto in NATO
Putin also sets as a condition the abandonment of Kiev of the NATO integration target, which is guaranteed in the Ukraine Constitution. It requires binding legal guarantees that the alliance will not be further expanded to the east, as well as a ban on the development of Western troops in Ukraine, even in the form of a peacekeeping mission.
Kiev has rejected these proposals. President Volodimir Zelenski said Donbas’ tradition would equal “tradition” and recalled that the industrial area was a “essential line of defense” against the Russian advance.
Persistent doubts
The US and NATO did not respond immediately to Reuters’ information. For the sources of Kremlin, however, the meeting at Anchorage is “the best opportunity for peace since the beginning of the war”, as Putin showed a compromise.
However, it remains unclear whether Ukraine will accept to give more territory. “If there is no agreement, there will be more war,” one of the sources warned.
The role of Trump and his envoys
Two Russian sources reported that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkov had a decisive role in preparing the summit. In early August he was welcomed in the Kremlin, where Putin clearly stated that he was “ready to determine the outlines of a compromise”.
There are various scenarios on the table, including a possible Russian -Ukra -UK -USA deal with ratification by the UN Security Council or a return to the failed talks of Istanbul in 2022 about Ukraine’s permanent neutrality.