According to BILD, even before the announcement of the peace summit on August 15, the Kremlin did not retreat from its maximum demand — to fully control five Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea. The Russian side only implemented "sectoral ceasefires" — for example, both sides refraining from attacks on energy facilities or major cities behind the front line.
However, under no circumstances does Putin want to cease Russia's large-scale offensive operations along the front — despite the fact that the US offered to lift sanctions against Russia and conclude new economic agreements in return. Trump even proposed a "territorial exchange" that would allow Russia to retain part of the occupied Donbas in exchange for relinquishing further territories.
Additionally, according to sources, Trump's special representative Utcoff misunderstood some Russian statements and misinterpreted them as concessions from Putin. For example, he thought the Russians proposed their "peaceful withdrawal" from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, although they demanded this from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"Whitcoff doesn't know what he's talking about," a Ukrainian government representative told BILD. According to the publication, this assessment is shared by representatives of the German government.
This information was confirmed by a Washington Post source familiar with the negotiations, who reported that the Kremlin proposed Ukraine give up the Donbas regions in exchange for a ceasefire. Moscow did not put forward any other conditions.
According to the source, the Russian side does not intend to return the territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which provide Moscow with a strategic land bridge to the occupied Crimea.
Meanwhile, US Vice President J.D. Vance stated that the US considers an agreement based on the current "line of contact" between Ukraine and Russia as a key point in resolving the situation in Ukraine, writes Clash Report. However, as Vance himself admits, such a solution is unlikely to satisfy either side.