Vladimir Putin’s offer to freeze the war in Ukraine along current frontlines may be a tactic to draw Donald Trump towards accepting wider Russian demands, a source has claimed. The Russian president is reported to have made a frontlines offer in talks with Mr Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff.
The source told the Guardian it isn’t clear what further demands Putin will make ahead of a peace deal and the Russian concession over territory could be a manoeuvre to entice the US into agreeing to other Russian peace terms. Putin has insisted a cessation to hostilities should lead to a lasting peace and remove the “root causes” of the “crisis”.
One of Moscow’s fundamental concerns is that Ukraine could join the NATO military alliance. Putin’s regime has also questioned Ukrainian sovereignty, with the Russian leader bent on expanding his country’s power and influence outside Russia’s borders.
Kyiv agreed to a plan for a 30 day ceasefire last month after talks with the US. Putin said in March that he supported the idea, but questioned whether Ukraine would use that time to rearm, mobilise or do neither.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in response that Putin was preparing to reject the proposal, but was “afraid” to tell Mr Trump directly he wants to carry on with the war.
Reports have since emerged that the Trump administration had proposed a deal which would allow Russia to retain occupied Ukrainian territory as part of a peace agreement.
Mr Zelensky dismissed the idea as a non-starter and ruled out ceding Ukrainian land to the Russians.
Meanwhile, US Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio has warned both sides the US will walk away from brokering a peace agreement if progress isn’t made swiftly.
His words were echoed on Wednesday (April 23) by US Vice President JD Vance, who said the proposal was “very fair” and would “freeze the territorial lines at some level close to where they are today”.
Mr Vance warned: “We’ve issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it’s time for them to either say yes or for the United States to walk away from this process.”
President Trump, meanwhile, has pushed for an end to the war and said last week that negotiations were “coming to a head”.
Reports suggest the US peace proposal includes barring Ukraine from NATO membership but allowing the country to join the EU, lifting sanctions on Russia and deepening economic ties between the US and Russia.
But reaching even a 30-day ceasefire has been beyond the gift of negotiators, with both sides continuing to attack one another in a grinding war of attrition along a 620-mile frontline.
Some of Ukraine’s European allies are wary of the US proposal for Ukraine to exchange land for peace.
An official said there is also acknowledgement by some allies that Russia is firmly entrenched wholly or partly in five regions of Ukraine — Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
A senior French official told The Associated Press that if the goal is to obtain a ceasefire immediately, then it should be based on the line of contact as it is.
The official was not authorised to be publicly named and spoke on the condition of anonymity according to French presidential policy.
Britain has downplayed expectations of a breakthrough at a meeting in London today, but said this is an important week for diplomatic efforts to end the fighting. That meeting was downgraded after Mr Rubio abruptly pulled out, citing an issue with his schedule.
Western analysts say Moscow is in no rush to conclude peace talks because it has battlefield momentum and wants to capture more Ukrainian land.
