Vladimir Putin demands that Ukraine surrender the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, which together constitute the Donbass region, to stop waging war, according to information to Financial Times.
The demand is said to have been presented during Putin's meeting with the US's Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday, and subsequently communicated to Zelenskyj and European leaders on Saturday.
According to information in The New York Times, Trump supports the Russian proposal for a peace agreement by Ukraine surrendering even unoccupied parts of Donetsk.
Although Russia has focused a large part of the warfare around the front in Donetsk, it has been kept relatively intact by Ukraine since Russia initiated the aggression in 2014. The invading power controls about three-quarters of the province today.
Politically, economically, militarily
Beyond the principled reasons for not surrendering occupied territory in response to an invasion war, there are three reasons why a Russian Donetsk would mean disaster for Ukraine.
The first is political, according to Kjell Engelbrekt, professor of political science at the Defense University.
Very many Ukrainians have served under the front since 2014, so it's an issue that has strong emotional charge, he says.
The second is economic.
There is a huge amount of coal and steel, there are mines, there are minerals. In the long term, resources you want to extract, continues Engelbrekt.
The third, and perhaps most important reason, is military. Since Russia initiated the warfare in eastern Ukraine in 2014, military fortifications have been built up in large numbers.
One has built up a whole system of trenches, minefields, logistics.
Much of the transport infrastructure also coincides in the regions that Putin wants to have official power over.
And the topography allows you to build fortifications so that you end up a piece up. You have an advantage in a tactical or military operational situation, says Kjell Engelbrekt.
Most important guarantee excluded
Controlling Donetsk would give Russia huge advantages if new aggression is initiated after a peace agreement is concluded.
Zelenskyj has consistently ruled out surrendering Donbass and said a few days ago that it would give Russia a springboard for a new offensive.
If you are to leave one of your strongest military strongpoints, then you must have incredibly strong security guarantees. Article 5 is something that would be attractive, says Engelbrekt, referring to the mutual defense guarantees of the NATO treaty for members.
One of many rumors circulating is that the US and other allies could provide some form of security guarantees for Ukraine after a peace agreement is concluded, if the country were to be attacked by Russia in the future.
A Ukrainian NATO membership is not considered possible with Donald Trump in the White House.
"UKRAINE IS NOT GOING TO JOIN NATO. Some things never change!!!" Trump writes in social media the night before the big meeting with Zelenskyj and European leaders at the White House on Monday.
The area commonly referred to as Donbass consists of the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine.
In connection with Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, in violation of international law, Russian-backed forces with close ties to Moscow proclaimed so-called people's republics in Donetsk and Luhansk.
Just days before the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russia declared the provinces as "independent republics".
Currently, Russia controls 88 percent of Donbass: the entire Luhansk and about 75 percent of Donetsk.
Source: Reuters
