In a high-stakes diplomatic maneuver that threatens to upend delicate peace overtures, Russian President Vladimir Putin has directly demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government surrender full control of the entire Donetsk region as a core condition for ending the war, a revelation made during a phone call this past week with United States President Donald Trump.
According to a detailed report by The Washington Post, citing two senior officials familiar with the sensitive conversation, Putin’s insistence on annexing the strategically vital eastern Ukrainian territory—a region Moscow has failed to conquer in 11 years of brutal conflict—signals that the Kremlin is not backing away from its maximalist demands, potentially creating a formidable obstacle to President Trump’s optimistic push for a swift peace deal.
The demand from the Russian leader, which has not been previously reported, casts a long shadow over the recent flurry of diplomatic activity, including a critical White House meeting on Friday between Trump and Zelensky.
Putin’s focus on Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces are deeply entrenched in what they consider a major bulwark against a Russian advance toward Kyiv, suggests that despite the battlefield stalemate, his strategic ambitions remain undiminished.
While Russia and its separatist proxies have claimed parts of the Donetsk region since 2014, they have never managed to seize the entirety of the territory by force. The Kremlin's renewed insistence on this point is a clear indication of the immense challenges that lie ahead for the planned peace summit between Trump and Putin, which is set to take place in Hungary in the coming weeks.
MNA/
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