US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin appear to be factoring in large territorial cessions from Ukraine in their deliberations for an end to the war – a move Kyiv categorically rejects."Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message from Kyiv on Saturday."The answer to Ukraine's territorial issues is contained in Ukraine's constitution. No one will deviate from it, and no one can deviate from it."

According to US media reports, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin demanded, ahead of a summit with US President Donald Trump, that Russia gain full control over the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. This would mean the Ukrainian army surrendering several thousand square kilometers of territory and strategically important cities.

Reports: Moscow wants to completely take over Donetsk and Luhansk

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Putin made this proposal during US negotiator Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow on Wednesday. On Friday, the White House and the Kremlin confirmed that a summit between Trump and Putin will take place on August 15 in the northern US state of Alaska.

Russia occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the Donbass coal and industrial region in 2014 and renamed them people's republics. Shortly before the invasion on February 24, 2022, Moscow recognized the entities as independent and, after sham referendums in the fall of 2022, declared them Russian territory.

In Luhansk, the Ukrainian defenders only hold a few square kilometers. But in the fiercely contested Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army still controls a quarter of the area. The Russian army is gradually advancing, but at a cost. An evacuation would mean that Ukraine would have to abandon the chain of well-fortified towns of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Kostiantynivka, leaving it defenseless.

Trump speaks of territorial exchange

In Washington, Trump spoke vaguely of an exchange of territories previously held by either Russian or Ukrainian troops,"for the benefit of both sides." He did not provide details."We are looking at territory that has been contested for three and a half years." Something should also be returned.

These could be small bridgeheads of the Russian army in the Ukrainian front-line areas of Sumy and Kharkiv. Russian soldiers also appear to have crossed the border into the Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine claims to still have soldiers stationed in the Russian Kursk region as a remnant of a 2024 offensive.

According to dpa information, Trump also informed his European partner countries about possible trade deals after Witkoff's visit. According to media reports, it is unclear what Russia's reciprocal offer might be beyond a mere cessation of hostilities. The question of security guarantees for Ukraine remains open.

What will become of Zaporizhia and Kherson?

The fate of the southern Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson also remains unclear. Russia has also annexed them, but only partially controls them. The wide Dnieper River separates the two sides. Through its conquests in the south, Russia has created a land bridge to the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

Zelensky criticized Alaska, the summit location chosen by Trump and Putin."It's very far away from this war that's raging in our country, against our people, and which can't be ended without us, without Ukraine," he said. Like the European states, Ukraine fears being left out of the decisions of the major nuclear powers as the main victims.

When the White House first mentioned a summit, it suggested that the one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin would be followed by a three-on-one meeting with Zelensky. Moscow, however, invited Trump to the second meeting in Russia, thus once again disinviting Zelensky.

Trump sees obstacles with Zelensky

Trump wants to end the war. Since taking office in January, however, he has exerted pressure not on Russia as the aggressor, but on the besieged Ukraine. Trump's ultimatum to Putin to end the war expired on Friday and dissolved into the preparations for the summit.

During an appearance at the White House with the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Trump interpreted the hurdles of the Ukrainian constitution as an obstacle to a solution. Zelenskyy must hurry to organize political support in his country"because we are close to a deal." But the Ukrainian president should be given everything he needs "because he has to be ready to sign something."

The Ukrainian population is war-weary after three and a half years of relentless Russian attacks. However, a cession of territory would cause serious domestic political upheaval.