'If there is no peace, then there is more war': Putin lists 'three key demands' for ending Ukraine war - What are they?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has outlined new conditions for a potential peace deal with Ukraine, Reuters reported following his meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska. Sources told Reuters that Putin is now demanding Ukraine withdraw completely from the eastern Donbas region, give up ambitions to join NATO, and remain neutral with no Western troops on its soil.

In return, Moscow would freeze the front lines in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, where Russian forces already control about 73% of the territory. Russia currently holds around 88% of the Donbas, according to US estimates. The Kremlin is also willing to return small areas of Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions that it captured, the sources added.

Shift from earlier demands

In June 2024, Putin had insisted Ukraine hand over four regions in full — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Kyiv rejected that outright as surrender. His latest proposal drops full control of the southern provinces but still demands Ukraine leave the Donbas entirely.

Despite the adjustment, Kyiv has made clear it will not abandon land recognised internationally as Ukrainian. President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “If we’re talking about simply withdrawing from the east, we cannot do that. It is a matter of our country’s survival, involving the strongest defensive lines.”

NATO membership remains key sticking point

Putin’s offer also includes strict conditions on Ukraine’s future. Moscow wants NATO to pledge never to expand further east, legal limits on Ukraine’s military, and guarantees that no Western peacekeepers will be deployed in the country. But joining NATO remains a constitutional goal for Ukraine. Zelensky has repeatedly said it is not for Moscow to decide his country’s alliances.

Putin’s closed-door talks with Trump in Alaska marked the first US–Russia summit in more than four years. The leaders spoke for three hours, focusing almost entirely on the war. Afterwards, Putin said he hoped the meeting would “open up the road to peace in Ukraine,” though he gave no details.

Trump, who has styled himself as a “peacemaker president,” later said, “I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended. I feel confident we are going to get it solved.” He has begun arranging a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky, followed by a trilateral summit involving Washington.

Doubts over Zelensky’s legitimacy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Putin was ready to meet Zelensky but warned that issues must be fully worked out in advance. He also questioned Zelensky’s authority to sign a deal, as his term formally expired in May 2024. Kyiv insists he remains legitimate until new elections can be held.

Security guarantees under discussion

According to Russian sources, Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff played a key role in paving the way for the Alaska summit. Putin reportedly told him in Moscow earlier this month that he was ready to compromise. Options for a deal include a three-way Russia–Ukraine–US agreement recognised by the UN Security Council, or a return to the failed 2022 Istanbul talks, which centred on Ukraine adopting permanent neutrality in exchange for international security guarantees. “There are two choices, war or peace, and if there is no peace, then there is more war,” one source close to theKremlinsaid.