Putin Refuses Negotiations Until Complete Capture of Donbas
Russia no longer intends to return part of the occupied territories to Ukraine within any agreement to end the war and intends to keep the occupied areas of Sumy and Kharkiv regions as a buffer zone, writes Bloomberg, citing sources close to the Kremlin.
Photo: Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
According to them, Vladimir Putin still intends to seize the entire Donbas and believes that negotiations can only resume after this goal is achieved.
The Russian Ministry of Defense assured the president that it would gain full control over the rest of the Donetsk region by the end of the year, one of the agency's interlocutors clarified. However, a source close to the Russian military department called this deadline too optimistic and stated that many military personnel consider the operation's completion only in 2027 to be more realistic.
According to sources, Putin abandoned the earlier idea of territorial exchange after deciding that informal agreements reached with US President Donald Trump at the Alaska summit in August 2025 are no longer valid.
The Russian side claimed that Ukraine should have given up Donbas in exchange for the return of the occupied areas of Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Washington denied the existence of such agreements.
An additional factor was Trump's decision to support a bill introducing duties of up to 100% on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas.
Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries, which led to a fuel crisis, also influenced the strengthening of the Kremlin's position, sources added.