'Russia's stance doesn't change' — Kremlin shoots down Trump's proposal to freeze Ukraine front line
Moscow's position regarding the possibility of pausing hostilities along the current front lines in Ukraine has not changed, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 20 when asked about proposals put forward by the U.S.
Russia has previously rejected freezing the war along the current front lines while reportedly demanding that Ukraine cede the entire Donetsk Oblast.
"This topic was repeatedly raised in various forms during contacts between Russia and the U.S.," Peskov told Russian media in a phone interview.
"The Russian side answered every time, this answer is well known: the consistency of Russia's position doesn't change."
The comments follow a meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House on Oct. 17 that ended in disappointment for Ukraine. While Kyiv hoped to secure a deal on U.S. Tomahawk missiles, Trump, instead, reportedly pressed Zelensky on Putin's territorial demands.
The Kyiv Independent learned from two sources familiar with the matter that the meeting was effectively derailed by Putin's phone call with Trump a day earlier. During the call, Putin again demanded that Ukraine hand over full control of Donetsk Oblast to Russia as a condition for ending the war, according to the Washington Post.
Publicly, the U.S. president denied pressuring Zelensky to cede unoccupied territories and instead suggested freezing the front line, referring to Ukrainian land as "property" that Moscow had "won."
U.S. and Russian officials are expected to discuss peace in Ukraine this week as the first stage for a planned summit between Trump and Putin in Budapest.
The viability of such peace efforts remains in doubt as Kyiv has repeatedly rejected ceding unoccupied territory to Russia. Instead, Ukraine has called for an unconditional ceasefire as a precondition for further peace talks.
"Donald Trump's logic is simple: he needs applause and success — everything else matters little to him," Yevhen Mahda, a Ukrainian political expert, told the Kyiv Independent.
"Unfortunately, in Russian-American relations... Trump is losing the initiative," while Putin is setting the pace, he adds.
Trump and Putin previously met in Alaska on Aug. 15 for their first summit since the U.S. president returned to office — an event that failed to achieve any breakthrough toward a peaceful settlement.
After Trump announced a second summit hosted by Hungary, led by Moscow-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Zelensky said that Budapest is not an ideal venue, but voiced readiness to participate if formally invited.
Kateryna Denisova
