Vladimir Putin has formally issued the demands to be met if Russia is to end its invasion of Ukraine, one week after meeting US president Donald Trump in Alaska.
Following that summit, during which Putin and Trump are said to have held a private meeting for three hours, Trump appeared optimistic that a deal could be reached in short order. Despite not coming to an agreement that would either facilitate an immediate ceasefire or put an end to the war altogether, the POTUS took to Truth Social to shed light on how Ukraine can supposedly end the conflict.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote online.
“Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Trump then met with President Zelenskyy and several other European leaders at the White House, with the aim of establishing a plan intended to bring about the conclusion of the ongoing conflict.
Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, initiating a bloody war that some estimates peg for having accounted for over one million Russian casualties.
Ukraine have put up valiant resistance over the course of the past three years, but a definitive end to the fighting has at times seemed like an unobtainable goal – particularly if Ukraine are unwilling to hand over large amounts of territory to their oppressors. Throughout the negotiations it’s been made clear that’s not something they’re willing to concede.
President Trump, however, believes he is the man to broker a peace between the two nations. He made it clear after his meeting with Putin last week that an end to the war is possible.
The finer details of what Putin and Trump discussed during their historic summit has remained a closely guarded secret, but Russian’s formal demands to the Ukraine have now been issued, according to sources who spoke to Reuters.
Reports state that Putin desires three things if he’s to call off Russia’s invasion: that Ukraine stop seeking NATO membership, that there are no Western troops on Russian soil, and that Ukraine withdraw completely from the parts of the Donbas region (in Ukraine) that Russia currently controls.
Reuters claim that Russia will halt the current front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in return for Ukraine handing over Donbas.
For the record, Russia currently controls about 88 percent of the Donbas and 73 percent of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
News of Moscow’s supposed demands comes in the light of NATO defense chiefs holding a virtual meeting with Ukraine to discuss security guarantees.
Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Italian admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, said the meeting, which included 32 defense chiefs from across the alliance, went ‘great’.
“Great, candid discussion among #NATO Chiefs of Defence, today. And excellent update on the security environment from our new SACEUR, his first with us,” he wrote on X.
“I thanked everyone for their always proactive participation in these meetings: we are united, and that unity was truly tangible today, as always.”
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