Putin offers Trump frozen battle lines, written promise not to invade again if Kyiv surrenders Donbas, NYT reports
During the Aug. 15 Alaska Summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined a peace plan that would involve Ukraine ceding unoccupied territory in exchange for Moscow's written promise not to invade again, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Aug. 16, citing European officials.
Trump appeared to endorse this plan as the fastest way to a peace deal, the officials said.
Trump and Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska on Aug. 15 to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Prior to the meeting, Trump threatened to impose economic penalties if Putin didn't accept a ceasefire deal during their talks. After their three-hour conversation, Trump dropped both the ceasefire demand and the sanctions threat.
According to officials briefed on the call Trump held with European leaders after the summit, the U.S. president favors a rapid peace deal over an immediate ceasefire and believes that if Kyiv withdraws entirely from the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine — including currently unoccupied lands — an agreement can be reached.
In exchange for Ukraine's withdrawal, Putin would offer to freeze the war along the current front lines and provide a written promise not to attack Ukraine or a European country again, an official said.
Putin also asked that Russian again be named an official language in Ukraine.
Trump publicly expressed his preference for a comprehensive deal over a ceasefire in a TruthSocial post, reversing his previous position — which aligned with Ukraine and its European allies. In the post, he claimed that European, NATO, and Ukrainian officials agreed with this view.
"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 does not hold up," he wrote on Truth Social after the call with European and NATO leaders.
Ukraine has called for a complete ceasefire as a precondition of further negotiations with Russia. As Russian aerial attacks grow more deadly and ground offensives more intense, the failure to demand a ceasefire allows Moscow to drag out negotiations while achieving its battlefield aims and degrading Ukraine's defenses.
Kyiv has also rejected Russia's demands for concessions of unoccupied Ukrainian lands as a nonstarter in peace negotiations.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Trump and European leaders at the White House on Aug. 18. Trump also hopes to arrange trilateral talks with Zelensky, Putin, and himself.
