Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly demanded that Ukraine surrender full control of Donetsk as a condition for ending the ongoing war, according to a Washington Post report citing two senior officials familiar with the conversation.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
The demand came during a recent phone call between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the report said. The Russian leader, who has sought to capture Donetsk for over a decade, sees the region as strategically vital for securing Russia’s influence in eastern Ukraine.
Despite Trump’s optimism about brokering peace, officials said Putin’s stance indicates no real softening of his territorial ambitions. Russia and its proxy forces have claimed parts of Donetsk since 2014 but have never managed to take full control through force.
In his public statement after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Friday, Trump did not endorse the Russian demand. Instead, he expressed hope for a negotiated peace, writing on social media:
“It is time to stop the killing and make a DEAL! Enough blood has been shed… Let both claim victory, let history decide!”
Sources told Washington Post that Putin offered to cede partial control of two other regions — Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — in exchange for full authority over Donetsk. U.S. officials viewed this as a minor adjustment from earlier demands made at the Anchorage summit in August, though European diplomats dismissed it as a superficial compromise.
A senior European diplomat compared the offer to “selling Ukrainians their own leg in exchange for nothing,” highlighting widespread scepticism in Kyiv and European capitals.
Neither the White House nor the Kremlin immediately commented on the report.
The front lines in Ukraine have remained largely stagnant over the past year, with Russia controlling around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Trump, who recently helped secure a ceasefire and prisoner exchange in Gaza, has renewed his focus on ending the war in Ukraine. He is expected to meet Putin in Budapest in the coming weeks to continue discussions, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio overseeing preparations for the summit.
The report also revealed that Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressed Ukraine during Friday’s meeting about possibly handing over Donetsk — echoing a common Kremlin talking point about the region’s Russian-speaking population. Ukrainian officials, however, rejected this reasoning, noting that language use does not equate to political allegiance.
Despite hopes for long-range Tomahawk missiles, Ukraine left the Washington talks empty-handed. Trump said he preferred to end the conflict diplomatically rather than through additional arms shipments.
Ukraine has signalled conditional support for Trump’s proposed ceasefire along the current front lines, provided it comes with strong security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe to prevent future Russian aggression.
As winter approaches, Ukraine braces for renewed Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, even as both sides weigh the next steps toward a potential peace deal that remains as fragile as ever.
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