A lasting peace deal appears to be within reach following a high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a U.S. Air Force base in Alaska on Friday.
Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy reported over the weekend that elements of a deal include parcels of Ukrainian land for Putin and Western security guarantees for Ukraine.
“Russia essentially wants control of two territories in eastern Ukraine, if they are going to agree to a cease-fire everywhere else. Ukraine wants security guarantees. They want Western troops to come into their country and guarantee that Russia does not come back and try anything again,” Doocy reported from Alaska on Friday.
Putin has proposed that Moscow assume full control of the Donbas region and freeze the front lines elsewhere in exchange for ending Russia’s war with Ukraine — a plan Trump supports, a European diplomat told Fox News after the summit.
The Donbas, located along Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia, had a pre-war population of about 6.5 million and encompasses the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. A U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that Trump pressed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Putin’s offer.
Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House on Monday.
Following his summit with Putin on Friday in Alaska, Trump informed European allies that the Russian leader reaffirmed his demand for the Luhansk and Donetsk regions but signaled openness to ending the deadlock in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, along with a broader freeze along the front lines, Fox News reported.
Previously, Zelenskyy has refused to agree to any land giveaways. Zelenskyy has rejected withdrawing from the roughly 30% of Donetsk still under Ukrainian control, arguing that such a move would be unconstitutional and could leave the area vulnerable as a staging ground for future Russian offensives.
That said, Russia Today reported Sunday that Zelenskyy has rejected Trump’s push for a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, insisting that a ceasefire must be in place before negotiations on a broader settlement can begin.
Zelensky delivered the remarks on Sunday at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is set to accompany him to Washington for talks with Trump on Monday, RT.com noted.
The Ukrainian leader said Moscow has put forward “many demands” regarding the conflict’s resolution and emphasized that Kyiv must be fully informed of them before moving forward.
After his meeting with Putin, Trump shifted away from backing a ceasefire and is now pursuing a full peace agreement. Putin, for his part, has consistently maintained that Moscow is not interested in a temporary truce but seeks a long-term settlement that aligns with the Kremlin’s interests.
After calls with Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump said Saturday on social media that “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told ZDF television that Trump said Russia “seems to be prepared to conduct the negotiations based on the so-called line of contact and not the administrative boundaries.”
Following their conference call with Trump, European leaders issued a statement but did not address whether they preferred a cease-fire or a final peace deal.
The leaders said they “welcomed President Trump’s efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia’s war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace.”
Putin described his talks with Trump in Alaska as “very frank.”