Freezing the front, returning the territories of Sumy and Kharkiv regions and lifting sanctions. Reuters published Putinʼs demands

During negotiations with the US President Donald Trump, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin put forward a number of demands to end the war in Ukraine. Among them are the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas, a ban on joining NATO, and the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

In return, Russia allegedly agrees to return the occupied parts of Sumy and Kharkiv regions and agree to certain security guarantees for Ukraine.

Reuters reports this, citing sources who noted that their knowledge of Putinʼs proposals is largely based on discussions between the leaders of Europe, the United States, and Ukraine.

Putin wants Ukraine to completely withdraw troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for freezing the front line in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Reuters notes: Ukraine controls about 6 600 km² of Donbas.

Russia is allegedly ready to return the occupied territories in Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Itʼs about "relatively small areas" in the north of Sumy region and in the north-eastern part of the Kharkiv region.

Among the conditions is also “formal recognition” of Russian sovereignty over Crimea. However, Reuters notes: it is not clear whether this means recognition by the US government, or, for example, by all Western powers and Ukraine.

Putin also wants at least some sanctions against Russia lifted. Reuters sources did not specify whether this applies to US sanctions or European ones as well.

The demands also include a ban on Ukraine joining NATO, but Putin is reportedly ready for some security guarantees for Ukraine. The sources added that it is unclear what this means in practice.

In addition, Russia will demand official status for the Russian language in some parts of Ukraine or throughout Ukraine and permission for the free operation of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Similar demands have been reported after Trumpʼs meeting with Putin before. Reuters reported that during a joint online meeting, Trump conveyed to Zelensky Putinʼs proposal to freeze most of the front line in exchange for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the unoccupied part of the Donetsk region. Zelensky rejected the idea, sources said.

Bloomberg also wrote about Putinʼs same proposal. And The New York Times claimed that Putin also demanded official status for the Russian language in Ukraine and security for the UOC MP.

According to the NYT, Putin offered a written promise not to attack Ukraine or any European country again as a security guarantee. The Axios source adds that Putin mentioned China in the conversation as one of the possible security guarantors for Ukraine.

What is Ukraineʼs position?

Ukrainian high-ranking officials did not comment on these media publications, but during the full-scale war, similar theses were already voiced and President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly commented on them.

He rejects the idea of withdrawing Ukrainian troops from the unoccupied part of the Donetsk region. The president also emphasized that Ukraine does not legally recognize Crimea as Russian territory.

Joining the Atlantic Alliance is a strategic goal of Ukraine, enshrined in the Constitution. Ukraine also has a law banning religious organizations affiliated with Russia.

What is known about the negotiations regarding the war in Ukraine

Putin and Trump held talks in a “three-on-three” format on August 15. The meeting lasted about three hours, after which the US president and the Kremlin leader made brief statements, but did not answer journalists’ questions. The leaders did not make any significant statements about the ceasefire in Ukraine and related issues, but both spoke positively about the talks. There were also no agreements on a trilateral summit with Zelensky’s participation.

The next day, August 16, it became known that Trump had invited Volodymyr Zelensky to meet in Washington on August 18. Axios writes that in a conversation with European leaders following the summit in Alaska, Trump said that he wanted to organize a trilateral meeting with the participation of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as early as Friday, August 22.

• After a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European leaders, and a meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Trump said that "all together" decided that we should move immediately to a peace agreement, rather than talk about a temporary truce.
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that Trump supported the Italian idea of security guarantees for Ukraine based on Article 5 of the NATO Charter.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.