Russian President Vladimir V. Putin has indicated to the Trump administration that he is prepared to end the war in Ukraine in exchange for control over the eastern Donbas region, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing European and Ukrainian officials briefed on the talks.
The offer, reportedly made to Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, during a Wednesday meeting in Moscow, would see Russia claim the Donetsk and Luhansk regions — areas where its forces already hold most of the territory — along with the Crimean Peninsula, annexed in 2014.
Ukrainian forces, however, continue to mount resistance in parts of Donbas, although they continue to lose ground there.
European leaders expressed apprehension over the proposal, suggesting it may be a maneuver by Putin to avoid tougher penalties from President Trump, who has signaled his readiness to impose secondary tariffs on Moscow.
President Trump, undeterred by European hesitation, announced Friday that he will meet with Putin on August 15 in Alaska for high-level peace talks. “The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska. Further details to follow,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
At the White House, the president explained that the summit location had been decided upon and that some conditions had been set, including the exclusion of European leaders and a requirement for Putin to also meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Putin, I believe, wants to see peace, and Zelensky wants to see peace,” Trump said.
Trump also hinted at a pragmatic territorial arrangement: “There’s going to be some swapping of territories between Russia and Ukraine. It’s very complicated, but we’re going to get some back and we’re going to get some switched … to the betterment of both.”
The president’s deadline for Moscow to finalize a peace agreement expired Friday, though he left open the possibility of an extension. Asked whether the deadline remained firm, Trump said, “We’re going to see what [Putin] has to say. It’s going to be up to him.”
Over the past three years, the war has claimed an estimated hundreds of thousands of lives and inflicted severe damage on Ukrainian cities. Putin’s forces have continued missile and drone strikes on civilian centers even as diplomatic maneuvering intensifies.
Trump has sought to use both diplomatic pressure and military deterrence. Last week, he ordered two nuclear submarines repositioned following a warning from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who characterized Trump’s ultimatums as a “step towards war.”
The Alaska summit, if successful, could mark the most significant breakthrough in the conflict since its outbreak — and underscore Trump’s argument that direct, leader-to-leader engagement can achieve what years of multilateral diplomacy have failed to deliver.
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