THE GUARDIAN: Details of post-summit call were leaked in which US president supports plan for Kyiv to give up Donbas region
Donald Trump will back a plan to cede unoccupied Ukrainian territory to Russia to secure an end to the war between the two countries, it was reported on Saturday, after details of his post-summit call with European leaders leaked out.
Trump told European leaders that he believed a peace deal could be negotiated if the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, agreed to give up the Donbas region, which Russian invaders have not been able to seize in over three years of fighting, the New York Times reported, citing to two senior European officials.
Two sources with direct knowledge of the talks in Alaska told the Guardian that Putin demanded Ukraine withdraw from Donbas, which is made up of the Donestk and Luhansk regions, as a condition for ending the war, but offered Trump a freeze along the remaining frontline.
Although Luhansk is almost entirely under Russian control, Ukraine still holds key parts of Donetsk, including the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk and heavily fortified positions whose defence has cost tens of thousands of lives.
Putin told Trump that in exchange for Donetsk and Luhansk, he would halt further advances and freeze the frontline in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces occupy significant areas. » | Edward Helmore and Pjotr Sauer | Saturday, August 16, 2025
With each passing day, Donald Trump is resembling more and more Neville Chamberlain! Chamberlain conceded to Hitler's territorial demands and now Trump wants to do something similar: concede to Putin's. Acceding to Putin's demands will be tantamount to Russia ANNEXING significant regions of Ukraine. Surely, this will be unacceptable to Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the beleaguered Ukrainians. — © Mark Alexander
