Reuters, citing Russian sources, compiled a list of Russia's demands during peace agreement negotiations.
Agency sources said that during the entire closed 3-hour meeting, US President Donald Trump discussed with the Kremlin ruler a possible compromise on Ukraine, which Ukrainian authorities rejected, calling these conditions tantamount to surrender.
Putin demands that Ukraine withdraw troops from the part of the Donetsk region not yet occupied by Russia — the fortified area around Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk. As of now, Russian troops occupy 88% of the Donetsk region, the agency writes.
In return, Russia is ready to refrain from further advances in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which Russia has formally incorporated into its territory; in case of an agreement, these regions will be demarcated along the current line of contact. Russia controls 73% of these regions, but both regional centers — Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — are controlled by Ukraine.
As agency sources reported, Moscow is also ready to release small areas in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions currently occupied by Russian troops. In return, Russia demands that Ukraine abandon joining NATO, and NATO take on legal obligations to stop eastward expansion. The peace agreement should record the refusal to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine. Moscow also demands that Ukraine commit to limiting the size of its own army.
The transfer of Donbas is a key condition; if this does not happen, the war will continue. "There are two options: war or peace, and if there is no peace, there will be even more war," concluded one of the Reuters interlocutors.