Trump and Putin talked to each other on Friday, and Saturday – according to media reports – Trump was to provide European leaders with proposals and findings from these conversations. According to this information, Putin still demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donetsk and Luganski. He also proposed to freeze the front in two other places in exchange for giving him Donbass. Trump was to say that he supported Putin's plan, but Wołodymyr Zelnski rejected these proposals.
Putin was to agree to a minor concession. It is about 440 km of sq m
Reuters provided new information on Sunday. The agency journalists talked to people who learned Putin's position, familiarizing themselves with the content of Saturday conversations between the leaders of Europe, the USA and Ukraine.
“Putin's offer excludes the suspension of weapons until a comprehensive agreement is reached, thereby blocking Zelanski's key request. (…) Russia would be ready to return relatively small areas of Ukrainian land, which it occupied in the northern circuits: Sumsk and Kharkiv” – the sources said.
Russia controls enclaves with a total area of about 440 sq km, says Reuters. The agency also reminds that Ukraine controls about 6,600 km of donbass, which Putin demands entirely.
The Russian leader is also to strive – at least – for the formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow received Ukraine in 2014. It was not clear whether this meant the recognition by the US government or, for example, by all Western powers and Ukraine. Kyiv and his European allies consistently reject the formal recognition of Moscow's rule on the peninsula.
Vladimir Putin also reports to abolish at least some of the sanctions imposed on Russia. It is also not clear here whether it applies to both American and European sanctions.
Ukraine could also not join the NATO military alliance, although Putin seems to be open to receive some security guarantees, say the sources of the Reuters agency. It is not clear what this means in practice.
