Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week presented the administration of US President Donald Trump with a sweeping proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine in exchange for significant territorial concessions.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.
Putin presented his demands during a meeting with Trumpʼs special representative Steve Witkoff on August 6.
In a conversation with the Europeans, Witkoff said that the Russian proposal involves two stages. In the first stage, Ukraine would withdraw troops from the Donetsk region and the front line would be frozen. In the second, Putin and Trump would agree on a final peace plan, which would later be discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
European officials have sought to clarify what Putinʼs proposal means for the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. They have not received a clear answer, but a WSJ source says that Putin called for a halt to the war on the current lines in both regions.
An unnamed Ukrainian official who participated in a phone call with Trump on Wednesday said that Kyiv was not opposed to any proposals, but noted that a ceasefire would be a necessary condition for any further steps.
At the same time, the proposal did not directly address Ukraineʼs desire for security guarantees, including joining NATO in the near future. As part of the proposal, Putin said that his government would pass legislation committing not to attack Ukraine or Europe — a statement that European officials received with deep skepticism, the WSJ notes.
- Next week, on August 15, Putin and Trump will meet in Alaska. The main topic of the meeting is the war in Ukraine.
- Trump previously claimed that there was a "good chance" of a meeting between Putin and Zelensky. However, Putin himself, commenting on the possibility of meeting with Zelensky, stated that there were currently no suitable conditions for this.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.