Putin hinted to Trump he could give up parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in exchange for Donetsk Oblast – WP
Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with US President Donald Trump, has demanded full control over Donetsk Oblast to end the war, hinting that he is ready to give up occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in return.
Source: The Washington Post, citing sources
Details: According to two senior officials, during the call with Trump this week, Putin demanded that Kyiv hand over full control of Donetsk Oblast to Russia as a condition for ending the war.
Quote: "In the call between Trump and Putin, the Russian leader suggested he would be willing to surrender parts of two other regions of Ukraine he has partly conquered, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in exchange for full control of Donetsk.
That is slightly less of a sweeping territorial claim than he made in August at a summit between Trump and Putin in Anchorage. Some White House officials portrayed that as progress, according to one of the two senior officials, who was briefed on the Putin call."
Details: However, another official, a senior European diplomat, noted that Ukrainians are unlikely to see it that way.
"It's like selling them their own leg in exchange for nothing," the diplomat said.
According to the officials, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff pressed the Ukrainian delegation during a meeting on Friday to surrender Donetsk Oblast, arguing that the region is predominantly Russian-speaking.
Background:
- After a meeting with Zelenskyy on 17 October, Trump said that Ukraine and Russia "should stop where they are".
- Zelenskyy agreed with Trump that "we should stop where we are now".
- Axios reported that during the meeting, Trump made it clear he is not yet considering providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles.
- Trump spoke with Putin on 16 October for the first time in nearly two months, after which he announced that they plan to meet in Budapest.
- During the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska in August 2025, the Kremlin ruler reportedly demanded that Ukraine hand over all of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in exchange for Russia's commitment to freeze the front line in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Russia was also supposedly prepared to return small occupied areas in Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts.
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