Putin's peace pitch: Russia offers land return in north, demands Ukraine quit Donbas

A preliminary outline of Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to end the war in Ukraine has surfaced following his Alaska summit with U.S. President Donald Trump — and it hinges on a land-for-peace formula that would require Kyiv to abandon parts of its own territory before the guns fall silent.

The framework would involve Ukraine ceding full control of its eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions - areas Russia has struggled to fully capture - in exchange for Moscow freezing the front lines in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, Reuters reported on Sunday. 

Putin, the report said, has also signaled willingness to relinquish small pockets of land currently occupied in the northern Sumy and northeastern Kharkiv regions, totaling around 440 square kilometers. In contrast, Ukraine holds about 6,600 square kilometers in Donbas, the region comprising Donetsk and Luhansk, which Russia claims as its own.

Crucially, the proposal rules out a ceasefire unless a full agreement is struck. This is a red line for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country faces relentless Russian drone and missile strikes. 

Trump: "I think we're pretty close to a deal"

Though the summit between Trump and Putin - held at a U.S. air force base in Alaska - did not secure a ceasefire, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity afterward that they had made significant progress. "I think we're pretty close to a deal," Trump said. "Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they'll say ‘no’."

The Putin-Trump dialogue included land transfers and security guarantees for Ukraine, two sources told Reuters. Trump has since briefed Zelenskyy and European leaders on the proposals.

It remains unclear whether the Russian offer was a flexible opening bid or a non-negotiable final package. Putin's demand for formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, annexed in 2014, is also on the table - though it's not yet clear whether this refers to recognition by the U.S. alone or by all Western powers, including Ukraine.

Zelenskyy heads to Washington

Zelenskyy is scheduled to visit Washington on Monday to discuss the possible framework directly with Trump. However, Kyiv has consistently rejected any proposal that involves surrendering territory, especially in the Donbas. The Ukrainian military is entrenched in Donetsk and sees it as a critical buffer zone. Any withdrawal would, Kyiv believes, leave Ukraine vulnerable to deeper Russian incursions.