Putin has reportedly demanded full control of industrial region but Kyiv is set against ceding any territory
Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates
At last week’s Alaska summit, Vladimir Putin made full control of Donbas – Ukraine’s industrial heartland in the east – a central condition for ending the war.
According to sources briefed on the talks, the Russian leader demanded that Ukrainian forces withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk, the two regions that make up Donbas, in exchange for a freeze along the rest of the frontline.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has consistently rejected giving up any territory under Kyiv’s control, making Donbas one of the defining faultlines of the peace talks. The idea is also deeply unpopular at home: about 75% of Ukrainians oppose formally ceding any land to Russia, according to polling by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.
