The head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, during a recent conversation with the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, made it clear that he could agree to return the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to Ukraine, but demands full control over Donetsk region as a condition for ending the war. This is reported by the publication The Washington Post (WP) with reference to high-ranking officials, reports UNN.
Details
According to high-ranking officials, Russian President Putin, in a telephone conversation with American leader Donald Trump this week, demanded that Kyiv completely abandon control over Donetsk - a strategically important region in eastern Ukraine - as a condition for ending the war.
Putin's focus on Donetsk indicates that he is not backing down from his past demands, which have deadlocked the conflict, despite Trump's optimism about reaching a deal, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
It is noted that neither side has publicly commented on Putin's demand for full control over Donetsk, which has not been discussed before.
As the publication writes, in his public statement on Friday, October 17, after an important meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump did not support the Russian request.
According to officials, during the phone call, Trump and Putin discussed that the Russian leader is ready to give Ukraine parts of two other captured regions - Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions - in exchange for full control over Donetsk.
The publication adds that this territorial claim is slightly less extensive than the one Putin voiced in August at a summit with Trump in Anchorage. Some White House staff called it progress, according to one senior official familiar with the conversation.
Neither side - neither the White House nor the Kremlin - has yet commented on the situation.
Recall
On October 17, a bilateral meeting in the format of an official dinner with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump took place in the White House.
After this meeting, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the topic of Ukrainian territories would be key in any format of peace negotiations with Russia. According to him, Moscow seeks to secure all captured lands, but Ukraine insists that a ceasefire must come first.
US President Donald Trump evaded a direct answer to the question about the possibility of Ukraine returning all lost territories. He noted that "you never know what will happen," and that "today there is war, tomorrow there is peace."