Putin presented the plan to Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday in Moscow, and already on Friday it was announced that the leaders of US and Russia will meet in Alaska on August 15.

Trump said on Wednesday that Putin's offer wasn't a breakthrough, but it was enticing enough to start organizing the summit. The proposal could indicate a departure from earlier Russian demands for complete control of the region along the entire front line, which extends beyond the Donbass, writes the"Wall Street Journal" (WSJ). Trump, announcing the meeting with Putin, said that there would be an"exchange of territories for the benefit of both sides" between Russia and Ukraine, which Ukrainian President Zelensky categorically refused.

Zelensky said that "Ukrainians will not give their country to the occupiers" and that Kyiv "must be part of any negotiations to end the war".

- All decisions made without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace. It will achieve nothing - he stated in a post on the"X" network.

Putin gets Donbas?

The agreement will reportedly require Ukraine to cede the eastern region Donbass, which is mostly under Russian control, and in return Moscow has little other obligations - except to stop the fighting, writes the WSJ.

Putin reportedly told Vitkoff that he would agree to a full ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew its forces from the rest of the eastern region, which would give Russia control over Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed in 2014.

As a reminder, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said back in March that Ukraine would have to make concessions over the territory Russia has occupied since 2014 as part of any agreement to end the war.

According to"Bild", Russia does not deviate from its maximum demand to fully control five Ukrainian regions:

• Donetsk
• Lugansk
• Zaporozhye
• Kherson
• Crimea

The Russians control about 20 percent of the territory of Ukraine

Russia now controls most of Donetsk and Luhansk, but Ukrainian forces still control significant parts of the territory, including key cities that are now defense strongholds.

Moscow's forces control about 20 percent of the total territory of Ukraine.

According to April 25 data published by Warmapper.org, Russia controls:

• 69.2% Donetsk
• 99.18% Luhansk
• 72.42% Zaporozhye
• 3.35% Kharkiv
• Crimea controls 100%.

What exactly would Russia get under the agreement?

If Ukraine agreed to territorial concessions, specifically its eastern Donbass region, Russia would receive about 53,000 km² territory.

For comparison, that's about the size of Slovakia.

And with Donbass and Crimea, the territory in question is slightly smaller than Serbia , according to Worldometers.info.

The total size of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson – the regions annexed by Russia in September 2022 (after a referendum illegal under international law and not fully controlled) – is about 108,861 km².

Size of individual regions, according to publicly available data is:

• Donetsk 26,517 km²
• Lugansk 26,700 km2
• Zaporozhye 27,183 km2
• Kherson 28.461 km2
• Crimea 27,000 km2

Russia is already the largest country in the world by area, with:

• Total area of 17.1 million km2
• Land area of 16.3 million km2

With the regions, it would get an additional 135,861 square kilometers of territory. For the sake of comparison, the area of Serbia is 88,361 km².

The deal of the century for Moscow

This would be the"deal of the century" for Moscow. Without fighting, it would receive parts of the territory that it does not yet control militarily.

The Institute for the Study of War states in a report that"the Kremlin is striking a delicate balance between its interest in negotiating with Trump and preparing Russian society to accept nothing less than Putin's desired total victory in Ukraine, no matter how long it takes." Deputy of the State Duma of Russia, Lieutenant-General Viktor Sobolev, said that"under no circumstances" should one expect that the talks between Putin and Trump will end the war in Ukraine. Sobolev said Russia is seeking control over Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson and that Russian forces will create"security zones" in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Nikolaev and Odesa regions, according to ISW.

A big defeat for Ukraine

In return, Ukraine could"get" perhaps small parts of the border areas occupied by Russia in the areas of Sumy and Kharkiv - part of Putin's alleged "buffer zone". But realistically, not much more than that.

A recent Gallup poll suggests that the majority of Ukrainians want the war to end through negotiations, aware that this means ceding territory, however difficult it may be for them. They are ready to pay the price for peace, writes"Independent".

The proposal does not directly address Ukraine's pursuit of security guarantees, including near NATO membership, according to the WSJ.

As part of the proposal, the paper said, Putin said his government would pass a law pledging not to attack Ukraine or Europe, a claim met with deep skepticism by European officials. Putin's move appears to be designed in part to increase domestic pressure on Zelensky, given that many Ukrainians want an end to the war but also oppose handing over large swaths of territory, according to the WSJ.

The proposal could now shift pressure on Kiev to negotiate an agreement and help Moscow avoid new US sanctions.