Trump-Putin Alaska Talks: Russia Wants Whole Donetsk, Ukraine Says No

Brussels/Kiev (The Uttam Hindu): The atmosphere has heated up ahead of the crucial talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire in Alaska, USA. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made a big statement claiming that Russia wants full control over the entire Donetsk region in exchange for a ceasefire, which Ukraine will not accept at any cost.

Just before this high-level meeting to be held on the coming Friday, President Zelensky made it clear that President Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the remaining 30 percent (about 9,000 square kilometers) of Donetsk that it currently controls. Zelensky flatly rejected this demand. He said, "It would be unconstitutional to withdraw from the areas under our control. Doing so would be like encouraging Russia to attack again in the future."

According to Zelensky, US officials have informed him of Russia's demands. If Ukraine agrees to this condition, Russia will get almost complete control over Donbass, a major industrial region of eastern Ukraine, which has been a long-standing target of Russia.

On the other hand, before the Alaska summit, US President Donald Trump has also expressed his opinion on this dialogue. During a briefing at the White House on Monday, Trump expressed the possibility of restoring normal trade relations with Russia. In his characteristic style, he said that he would know "in the first two minutes" of meeting Putin whether an agreement could be reached or not.

Now the eyes of the world are fixed on this meeting to be held on Friday, where after Ukraine's tough stance, the negotiations between Trump and Putin on the terms of ceasefire have reached a challenging turn.