NEWNow you can take heed to Fox Information articles!
Russian President Vladimir Putin made his calls for clear on what it will take for him to stop army operations in Ukraine when talking with President Donald Trump in Alaska lower than one week in the past, studies confirmed Thursday.
No NATO admittance, no Western troops in Ukraine and hand over the Donbas area — a litany of calls for that Moscow has beforehand said, however which it formally knowledgeable Washington of on Friday, sources accustomed to the Kremlin’s negotiations advised Reuters.
The report additionally claimed that Putin would conform to freeze the entrance traces the place it at the moment stands in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, in addition to relinquish some territory it has captured within the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk areas.
RUSSIAN CRUISE MISSILES HIT US COMPANY IN MASSIVE UKRAINE STRIKE AMID TRUMP’S PEACE PUSH
Russian President Putin speeches throughout their joint press convention with U.S. Persident Donald Trump after their assembly on warfare in Ukraine at U.S. Air Base In Alaska on Aug. 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Contributor/Getty Pictures)
Fox Information Digital couldn’t independently confirm the update to the negotiations, although it’s an obvious shift from a 2024 demand by Putin, who stated Kyiv would wish handy over all 4 areas that Moscow illegally annexed in 2022, together with Donetsk and Luhansk — the place the Donbas sits — in addition to Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia.
However Putin’s obvious change in demand additionally comes following years of Russia’s lack of ability to considerably transfer the entrance traces.
Following the preliminary invasion in February 2022, Russian forces had been capable of sweep massive sections of territory. However by late summer season that 12 months, Ukraine started launching profitable counter offenses the place it recaptured vital parts of land in Kherson and Kharkiv.
However since 2023, the frontlines have remained largely stagnant, with Russia reportedly occupying lower than 20 % of Ukraine — an estimated seven % of which was beforehand taken in 2014, when Russia absolutely occupied Crimea and components of the Donbas.
Russian forces at the moment occupy some 88 % of the Donbas, practically all of the Luhansk area and roughly 75 % of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Russian-controlled territory in Sumy and Kharkiv is estimated to equate to roughly 150 sq. miles mixed, and a fraction of this in Dnipropetrovsk.
RUSSIA’S LAVROV LOOKS TO DRAW CHINA IN ON UKRAINE’S ‘SECURITY GUARANTEES’

Infographic map of Ukraine displaying territories claimed by Russia — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea (annexed in 2014) — plus Russian advances, utilizing information from the Institute for the Research of Battle and AEI’s Important Threats Challenge, as of Aug. 17, 2025. (Guillermo Rivas Pacheco,Jean-Michel Cornu/AFP through Getty Pictures)
A senior NATO protection official identified that Putin’s want listing was not sudden and voiced suspicion that he might add to his listing of calls for sooner or later.
“No matter helps to stall,” the official, who spoke to Fox Information Digital on the situation of anonymity, stated.
Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov raised geopolitical eyebrows this week when he claimed in a televised interview that Moscow has “by no means talked about the necessity to seize any territories.”
As a substitute, his feedback escalated concern that Putin’s final warfare intention is the management of Kyiv, slightly than bodily occupation of all of Ukraine – which Russian forces have been unable to attain.
Lavrov stated the Kremlin’s aim is to “defend” Ukrainians from their very own authorities, and argued “there will be no discuss of any long-term agreements” with Kyiv “with out respect” for Russia’s safety and the rights of Russian-speakers in Ukraine, reported the Institute for the Research of Battle this week.
“These are the explanations that should be urgently eradicated within the context of a settlement,” Lavrov added.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) maintain a gathering at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Aug. 15, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Concern over Ukraine’s sovereignty and autonomy had been on the rise effectively earlier than Russia’s 2022 invasion, significantly following the outbreak of massive protests in Belarus following the alleged 2020 re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, a serious ally of Putin and who has basically prolonged Belarus as a puppet state to Russia.
Unease mounted in 2021 when Putin wrote an essay arguing that Ukraine, in addition to Belarus, shouldn’t exist independently of Russia. By the tip of the 12 months, safety consultants had been sounding the alarm that Putin supposed to invade Ukraine.
The White Home didn’t instantly reply to Fox Information Digital’s questions.