Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine’s Donetsk region as a condition to end the war, according to a Washington Post report. The Donetsk region is located in eastern Ukraine and is considered strategically significant.
The Washington Post mentioned two senior officials who were familiar with the conversation between US President Donald Trump and Putin over a phone call earlier this past week.
According to The Times of India, Putin’s demand suggests that Moscow is still pursuing territorial control, which is why the two nations have been in conflict for the past three years.
Russia has controlled parts of the Donetsk region since 2014 but still does not have full control over it. The Russian President has always intended to take over the entire region, but Ukrainian forces have repelled him several times in the past.
After meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on October 17, Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was very interesting, and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL! Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent. This is a War that would have never started if I were President. Thousands of people being slaughtered each and every week — NO MORE, GO HOME TO YOUR FAMILIES IN PEACE!”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the top administration official charged with preparing the upcoming Budapest summit with Putin, which was welcomed by Kyiv, Washington Post reported.
Ukraine has endorsed Trump’s call for a ceasefire at the current front lines of the conflict ahead of negotiations for a more sustainable end to the fighting. Officials privately say they accept that Russia is likely to retain de facto control of the territory it has captured and that they are seeking robust security assurances from Washington and Europeans to deter Russia from restarting the war.
