Kyiv: The threats, pressure and ultimatums have come and gone, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained Moscow’s uncompromising demands in the war in Ukraine, raising fears he could use a planned summit with US President Donald Trump in Alaska to coerce Kyiv into accepting an unfavourable deal.
The maximalist demands reflect Putin’s determination to reach the goals he set when he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Putin sees a possible meeting with Trump as a chance to negotiate a broad deal that would not only cement Russia’s territorial
gains but also keep Ukraine from joining NATO and hosting any Western troops, allowing Moscow to gradually pull the country back
into its orbit.
The Kremlin leader believes time is on his side as the exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances in many sectors of the over 1,000-kilometre front line while swarms of Russian missiles and drones batter Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also has stood firm in his positions, agreeing to a ceasefire proposed by Trump while reaffirming the
country’s refusal to abandon seeking NATO membership and rejecting acknowledgment of Russia’s annexation of any of its regions.
A look at Russian and Ukrainian visions of a peace deal and how a Putin-Trump summit could evolve:
In a memorandum presented at talks in Istanbul in June, Russia offered Ukraine two options for establishing a 30-day ceasefire.
As an alternate condition for a ceasefire, Russia made a “package proposal” for Ukraine to halt mobilization efforts, freeze Western arms deliveries and ban any third-country forces on its soil. Moscow also suggested Ukraine end martial law and hold elections, after which the countries could sign a comprehensive
peace treaty.