Putin demanded Ukraine withdraw from Donetsk in exchange for halting Russia’s offensive on 2 regions: Sources
President Donald Trump informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded at the Alaska summit that Ukraine withdraw from all of the Donetsk region in exchange for halting Russia’s offensive on two more southeastern regions, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, two sources confirmed to ABC News.

The sources familiar with the call said Putin had also agreed not to mount further attacks on Ukraine if it ceded the territory.
The remaining unoccupied third of the Donetsk region contains a belt of key defensive cities. Giving them up without significant security guarantees would leave Ukraine extremely vulnerable to re-invasion by Russia.
It is unclear for now what Trump is suggesting or what Putin would accept. On Friday, Trump suggested that the U.S. would be part of security guarantees, but has not indicated in what form.
Trump also told Zelenskyy and European leaders that Putin raised the issue of protecting the Russian language and Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, according to a source briefed on the call.
Those are long-standing demands from Putin, that suggest he has not changed his conditions for ending the war, which have included regime change.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Patrick Reevell





