Implies two renunciations and a neutrality
Vladimir Putin has already decided what his requirements will be to end the conflict in Ukraine. According to three sources close to Kremlin, cited by the Russian President has three objectives to present to Kiev: that Ukraine renounce the entire eastern region of Donbass; May Ukraine renounce the ambitions to join the NATO; May Ukraine remain neutral and keep western troops outside the country.
“Putin is ready for peace and commitment. This is the message that was conveyed to Trump,” said one of the sources, warning that it was not clear to Moscow if Ukraine would be willing to give in the remains of Donbass and that if he did not, the war would continue.
The information comes almost a week after Putin met Donald Trump in Alaska for a summit that lasted about three hours. After the meeting, the Russian leader said that the meeting would have opened a path to peace in Ukraine.
According to Russian sources cited by Reuters, Putin gave way to the territorial requirements he presented in June 2024, which demanded that Kiev abdicated all the four provinces that Moscow claims as part of Russia: Donetsk and Lugansk, in the east of Ukraine, in addition to Kerson and Zaporizehzia, in the south – the Ukraine rejected the Ukraine – this.
“If we are talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we can’t do that,” Zelensky stressed to journalists on Thursday. “It’s a matter of survival of our country, involving the strongest defensive lines.”
Kiev maintains as strategic priority adherence to the NATO, provided for in its Constitution, and has already led Zelensky to reaffirm that this decision is exclusively to Ukraine, not Russia.
According to analysts, such as Rand Corporation’s Samuel Charap, demanding that Ukraine abandon Donbass remains politically and strategically unfeasible for Kiev. The experts heard by Reuters also believe that the Russian proposal may be more a maneuver than a real intention to agree.
Options for a possible ceasefire include a tripartite agreement between Russia, Ukraine and the USA, recognized by the UN Security Council, or a return to the 2022 Istanbul agreements, which provided for Ukrainian neutrality in exchange for global power security guarantees.
So far, neither the White House nor NATO have officially commented the Russian proposals. However, leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom maintain skepticism about Putin’s real will to end conflict.
