Sunday, August 17, 2025

Trump told Kyiv Putin offered to freeze front if Ukraine exits Donbas, source says

US President
Donald Trump told Ukraine's leader on Saturday that Russia's Vladimir Putin offered to freeze the frontlines elsewhere if Kyiv agreed to withdraw from the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, a person familiar with the matter said.

Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff told Ukraine's Zelensky that Putin said there could be no ceasefire before that happened, and that Putin could pledge not to launch any new aggression against Ukraine as part of an arrangement.

Putin told a televised meeting of senior officials in the Kremlin on Saturday that his visit to Alaska had been "timely and extremely useful."Putin also told the officials that Russia respects the US's position on the Ukraine conflict, which he said Moscow seeks to end peacefully. (Source)