Putin will not return captured territories to Ukraine or sign a full peace deal – The Washington Post

Putin does not intend to give up the captured territories of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts in exchange for the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas. This was reported by The Washington Post, citing a source familiar with the course of negotiations, according to the Telegram channel “The Moscow Times”.

According to The Washington Post’s source, the kremlin is only ready to cease fire. As for territorial concessions, putin’s proposal does not include them.

The Washington Post’s source stressed that putin will not give up the captured parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts because they provide russia with a land “bridge” to Crimea. According to the newspaper’s interlocutor, the kremlin’s proposal to stop attacks on these regions was misinterpreted by US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who visited moscow and assumed it was about a troop withdrawal. Sources from the German outlet Bild also said that putin’s words were incorrectly interpreted.

The report recalls that on August 8, US President Donald Trump stated that, as part of negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, a “territory exchange” is being discussed, which would allegedly benefit both sides.