Russia and Ukraine hold fast to their demands ahead of a planned
Putin-Trump summit
[August 11, 2025]
By The Associated Press
The threats, pressure and ultimatums have come and gone, but Russian
President Vladimir Putin has maintained Moscow's uncompromising demands
in the war in Ukraine, raising fears he could use a planned summit with
U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska to coerce Kyiv into accepting an
unfavorable deal.
The maximalist demands reflect Putin’s determination to reach the goals
he set when he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24,
2022.
Putin sees a possible meeting with Trump as a chance to negotiate a
broad deal that would not only cement Russia’s territorial gains but
also keep Ukraine from joining NATO and hosting any Western troops,
allowing Moscow to gradually pull the country back into its orbit.
The Kremlin leader believes time is on his side as the exhausted and
outgunned Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances in
many sectors of the over 1,000-kilometer (over 600-mile) front line
while swarms of Russian missiles and drones batter Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also has stood firm in his
positions, agreeing to a ceasefire proposed by Trump while reaffirming
the country's refusal to abandon seeking NATO membership and rejecting
acknowledgment of Russia’s annexation of any of its regions.
European leaders, meanwhile, rallied behind Ukraine, saying peace in the
war-torn nation can’t be resolved without Kyiv. Zelenskyy thanked
European allies in a post on X, writing Sunday: “The end of the war must
be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our
people.”
A look at Russian and Ukrainian visions of a peace deal and how a
Putin-Trump summit could evolve:
Russia’s position
In a memorandum presented at talks in Istanbul in June, Russia offered
Ukraine two options for establishing a 30-day ceasefire. One demanded
Ukraine withdraw its forces from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and
Kherson — the four regions Moscow illegally annexed in September 2022
but never fully captured.
As an alternate condition for a ceasefire, Russia made a “package
proposal” for Ukraine to halt mobilization efforts, freeze Western arms
deliveries and ban any third-country forces on its soil. Moscow also
suggested Ukraine end martial law and hold elections, after which the
countries could sign a comprehensive peace treaty.
Once there's a truce, Moscow wants a deal to include the “international
legal recognition” of its annexations of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in
2014 and the four regions in 2022.
Russia says a peace treaty should have Ukraine declare its neutral
status between Russia and the West, abandon its bid to join NATO, limit
the size of its armed forces and recognize Russian as an official
language on par with Ukrainian -– conditions reflecting Putin’s earliest
goals.
It also demands Ukraine ban the “glorification and propaganda of Nazism
and neo-Nazism” and dissolve nationalist groups. Since the war began,
Putin has falsely alleged that neo-Nazi groups were shaping Ukrainian
politics under Zelenskyy, who is Jewish. They were fiercely dismissed by
Kyiv and its Western allies.
In Russia’s view, a comprehensive peace treaty should see both countries
lift all sanctions and restrictions, abandon any claims to compensation
for wartime damage, resume trade and communications, and reestablish
diplomatic ties.
Asked Thursday whether Moscow has signaled any willingness to compromise
to make a meeting with Trump possible, Putin's foreign affairs adviser
Yuri Ushakov responded that there haven't been any shifts in the Russian
position.
Ukraine’s position
The memorandum that Ukraine presented to Moscow in Istanbul emphasized
the need for a full and unconditional 30-day ceasefire to set stage for
peace negotiations.
It reaffirmed Ukraine’s consistent rejection of Russian demands for
neutral status as an attack on its sovereignty, declaring it is free to
choose its alliances and adding that its NATO membership will depend on
consensus with the alliance.
It emphasized Kyiv’s rejection of any restrictions on the size and other
parameters of its armed forces, as well as curbs on the presence of
foreign troops on its soil.
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This combination of photos shows Russian President Vladimir Putin,
left, in Moscow on May 9, 2025, and President Donald Trump in
Washington on Aug. 1. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, Mark
Schiefelbein, File)
Ukraine’s memorandum also opposed recognizing any Russian
territorial gains, while describing the current line of contact as a
starting point in negotiations.
The document noted the need for international security guarantees to
ensure the implementation of peace agreements and prevent further
aggression.
Kyiv's peace proposal also demanded the return of all deported and
illegally displaced children and a total prisoner exchange.
It held the door open to gradual lifting of some of the sanctions
against Russia if it abides by the agreement.
Trump’s positions
Trump has often spoken admiringly of Putin and even echoed his
talking points on the war. He had a harsh confrontation with
Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, but later warmed his tone.
As Putin resisted a ceasefire and continued his aerial bombardments,
Trump showed exasperation with the Kremlin leader, threatening
Moscow with new sanctions.
Although Trump expressed disappointment with Putin, his agreement to
meet him without Zelenskyy at the table raised worries in Ukraine
and its European allies, who fear it could allow the Russian to get
Trump on his side and strong-arm Ukraine into concessions.
Trump said without giving details that “there'll be some swapping of
territories, to the betterment of both” Russia and Ukraine as part
of any peace deal that he will discuss with Putin when they meet
Friday.
Putin repeatedly warned Ukraine will face tougher conditions for
peace if it doesn't accept Moscow's demands as Russian troops forge
into other regions to build what he described as a “buffer zone.”
Some observers suggested Russia could trade those recent gains for
the territories of the four annexed by Moscow still under Ukrainian
control.
“That is potentially a situation that gives Putin a tremendous
amount of leeway as long as he can use that leverage to force the
Ukrainians into a deal that they may not like and to sideline the
Europeans effectively,” Sam Greene of King’s College London said.
“The question is, will Trump sign up to that and will he actually
have the leverage to force the Ukrainians and the Europeans to
accept it?”
Putin could accept a temporary truce to win Trump’s sympathy as he
seeks to achieve broader goals, Greene said.
“He could accept a ceasefire so long as it’s one that leaves him in
control, in which there’s no real deterrence against renewed
aggression somewhere down the line,” he said. “He understands that
his only route to getting there runs via Trump."
In a possible indication he thinks a ceasefire or peace deal could
be close, Putin called the leaders of China, India, South Africa and
several ex-Soviet nations in an apparent effort to inform these
allies about prospective agreements.
Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center argued
Putin wouldn’t budge on his goals.
“However these conditions are worded, they amount to the same
demand: Ukraine stops resisting, the West halts arms supplies, and
Kyiv accepts Russia’s terms, which effectively amount to a de facto
capitulation,” she posted on X. “The Russian side can frame this in
a dozen different ways, creating the impression that Moscow is open
to concessions and serious negotiation. It has been doing so for
some time, but the core position remains unchanged: Russia wants
Kyiv to surrender.”
She predicted Putin might agree to meet Zelenskyy but noted the
Kremlin leader would only accept such a meeting “if there is a
prearranged agenda and predetermined outcomes, which remains
difficult to imagine.”
“The likely scenario is that this peace effort will fail once
again,” she said. “This would be a negative outcome for Ukraine, but
it would not deliver Ukraine to Putin on a plate either, at least
not in the way he wants it. The conflict, alternating between open
warfare and periods of simmering tension, appears likely to persist
for the foreseeable future.”
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