Russian President Vladimir Putin last week during a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that Kyiv completely relinquish control over Donetsk Oblast in exchange for renouncing territorial claims to Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
This was reported by the American newspaper The Washington Post, citing unnamed senior officials who had information about the content of the conversation.
During the conversation Putin hinted at a willingness to cede parts of two other Ukrainian regions that he has partially seized, – Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – in exchange for full control over Donetsk, U.S. officials said.
This is a somewhat less extensive territorial claim than the one he made in August at the summit between Trump and Putin in Anchorage. Some White House officials presented it as progress, the publication writes.
At the same time, according to another European diplomat, Ukrainians are unlikely to see this as concessions.
“It’s like selling them your own leg for nothing”, – the diplomat said.
It should be noted that, according to The Economist, Russia currently controls about 75 percent of Donetsk Oblast. However, the occupying army’s advance is very slow. If Russia advances at the pace of the last 30 days, the complete capture of the four Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts will take at least until June 2030.