Putin told Trump he could relax some territorial claims in exchange for Donetsk region [View all]

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Putin told Trump he could relax some territorial claims in exchange for Donetsk region

Russian president offered at Alaska summit to freeze front lines if Ukraine withdraws from crucial eastern area

Christopher Miller in New York, Amy Mackinnon and Max Seddon in Anchorage and Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Berlin

https://www.ft.com/content/6b0b4912-9438-4de0-aebe-2a8dd804cbab

Published4 hours ago

Updated09:26


Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraw from the eastern Donetsk region as a condition for ending Russia’s war but told Donald Trump he could freeze the rest of the frontline if his core demands were met.

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Trump then communicated that message to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in a call on Saturday, during which he urged them to drop efforts to secure a ceasefire from Moscow.

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Putin made it clear that he had not dropped his core demands to “resolve the root causes” of the conflict, which would essentially end Ukraine’s statehood in its current form and roll back Nato’s eastward expansion.

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“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after a call with European leaders including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

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Additional reporting by James Politi in Washington, Fabrice Deprez in Kyiv, Andy Bounds in Brussels, Leila Abboud in Paris, David Sheppard in London and Amy Kazmin in Rome



Kremlin reports are that Putin and Trump did not discuss a three-way meeting with Zelenskyy in Anchorage. A European diplomat briefed on the call reported that “Trump is in a rush to make a deal but Putin is much less so ... Putin plays a long game and will not respect promises,”.