Putin's New Demands to End the War

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly set new demands to end the war in Ukraine. According to Reuters , these measures remove the country from NATO, exclude the presence of foreign troops, and draw a map of the country without the Donetsk and Luhansk regions—known as Donbass.

Despite demanding the ceding of Ukrainian territories, these new demands represent a Russian concession, which until now had always established the annexation of Donbass and the regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson, most of which it controls militarily, as conditions for agreeing to stop the invasion of the country.

On the other hand, Russian demands for Ukraine to be outside NATO and without a foreign military presence are not new, as are limits on the capabilities of Kiev's army — all issues on which Moscow will not budge.

Reuters, citing three sources close to the Kremlin, said a search for "a compromise for Ukraine" was on the table at last week's meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, between Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump.

Beyond Donbass, the Kremlin has opened the door to paralyzing the battle lines in its occupied territories of Zaporizhia and Kherson —73% of which are under Russian occupation, according to the agency. The smaller areas controlled by Russia in the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk regions would be returned to Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Ukrainian President completely rejected abandoning the regions Russia wants to conquer, located in the east of the country.

"This is not just a constitutional issue. It's a matter of our country's survival, involving the strongest defensive lines and the distances to industrial centers. If Putin conquers this territory, he will try to advance even further, regardless of whether he signs any agreement," warned Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by United24 .

US President Donald Trump himself had encouraged Ukraine to strike back if it wanted to eventually win and fend off Russia's invasion.

" It is very difficult, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invading country ," declared Trump, who on his social network, Truth Social, compared Ukraine's military situation to "a great team that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense."

“ There is no chance of winning !” he declared.