Moscow/washington – Washington and Moscow are seeking to reach an agreement to stop the war in Ukraine. This agreement would consolidate Russia’s control over territories it seized during its military invasion, according to the American Bloomberg Agency, citing people familiar with the matter.
US and Russian officials are working to reach an agreement on the territory in preparation for a possible summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as soon as possible. This summit might occur next week, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussions, according to Bloomberg.
They added that the United States is seeking approval from Ukraine and its European allies for the agreement. Yet, achieving this approval is not guaranteed.
Putin demands that Ukraine give up the entire eastern Donbass region to Russia. He also demands the Crimean Peninsula, which his forces annexed in 2014.
This requires Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to order the withdrawal of forces from parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions still under Kiev’s control. This action would give Russia a victory it has not been able to achieve militarily since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
This would be a major victory for Putin, who has long sought direct negotiations with the United States on the terms of ending the war he started. These negotiations would bypass Ukraine and its European allies.
Zelensky faces the risk of offering an unnegotiable agreement on the loss of Ukrainian territory. Meanwhile, Europe fears it will be left to monitor the ceasefire at a time when Putin is rebuilding his forces.
According to the sources, Russia will stop its offensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions on the current front lines as part of the agreement. They noted that terms and plans are still under negotiation and may change.
It is not clear whether Moscow is prepared to give up any of the territories it currently occupies. These include the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not commented yet. Ukraine also declined to comment on these proposals.
Freeze the war
The agreement aims to effectively freeze the war and pave the way for a ceasefire. It also includes technical talks on a final peace settlement, according to sources. The United States had previously demanded that Russia first agree to an unconditional ceasefire to prepare the way for negotiations.
Trump returned to the White House in January on a promise of a faster resolution to Europe’s most intense conflict since World War II. Despite this promise, he expressed growing frustration at Putin’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire.
The two leaders have made six phone calls since February. Additionally, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has met with Putin five times in Russia to try to reach an agreement.
So far, Trump has taken no direct action against Moscow. Although he doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% this week over its purchase of Russian oil, angering New Delhi. Putin called for agreeing to a ceasefire by Friday, otherwise the United States would impose tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. This aims to increase economic pressure on Moscow.
Putin’s demands
Putin has repeatedly insisted that his goals for the war have not changed. His demands include that Kiev accept neutrality, abandon its ambition to join NATO, and acknowledge its loss of Crimea and the other four Ukrainian regions to the east and south.
Parts of Donetsk and Luhansk have been under Russian occupation since 2014. At that time, the Kremlin fueled separatist violence after the seizure of Crimea. Putin declared that the four Ukrainian regions had become “forever” part of Russia after its annexation in September 2022. However, his forces did not fully control those territories.
Ukraine cannot constitutionally cede territory. Furthermore, it has stated that it will not recognize the Russian occupation or annexation of its territory.
It remains unclear whether Putin will agree to participate in a tripartite meeting with Trump and Zelensky next week. This uncertainty persists even if he has reached an agreement with the US president, the sources added.
Putin told reporters on Thursday that he did not mind meeting Zelensky “under the right circumstances”. Nevertheless, he said those conditions “are not currently available”.
Many officials, including Americans, have expressed doubts about Putin’s willingness to end the war. They also question whether he is truly serious about reaching a peace agreement that does not achieve his stated goals in Ukraine, according to the sources.
Trump said on Thursday that he was ready to meet Putin, even if the Russian president did not agree to also sit with Zelensky, retracting previous statements about a tripartite meeting.
“I don’t like long waits,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. They want to meet me and I will do everything I can to stop the killing.”
final touches
Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin’s foreign policy advisor, said on Thursday that Russian and American officials are finalizing the details of the meeting in the coming days. They have agreed on its location without naming it.
The United States had previously offered to recognize Crimea as part of Russia as part of any agreement to stop the war. This offer would effectively relinquish Russian control over parts of other Ukrainian regions. According to these previous proposals, control of parts of Zaporizhia and Kherson was supposed to return to Ukraine.
