US and Russia Plan Truce to Cement Putin's Gains in Ukraine [View all]

Source: Bloomberg

Washington and Moscow are aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia’s occupation of territory seized during its military invasion, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Putin is demanding that Ukraine cede its entire eastern Donbas area to Russia as well as Crimea, which his forces illegally annexed in 2014. That would require Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to order a withdrawal of troops from parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions still held by Kyiv, handing Russia a victory that its army couldn’t achieve militarily since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Such an outcome would represent a major win for Putin, who has long sought direct negotiations with the US on terms for ending the war that he started, sidelining Ukraine and its European allies. Zelenskiy risks being presented with a take-it-or-leave-it deal to accept the loss of Ukrainian territory, while Europe fears it would be left to monitor a ceasefire as Putin rebuilds his forces.
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Under the terms of the deal that officials are discussing, Russia would halt its offensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine along the current battlelines, the people said. They cautioned that the terms and plans of the accord were still in flux and could still change.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-08/us-and-russia-plan-truce-deal-to-cement-putin-s-gains-in-ukraine

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Archive copy: https://archive.ph/JMVKb

The "master of the deal" just gives other people's lives away. He likes Putin too much to make him give anything up, and gives him a little bonus too. Think of it as a Christmas present to that boss you want to suck up to.

Analysis in a Bluesky thread:

1/ The Trump Administration is reportedly finalising a peace proposal that would allow Russia to take over the entirety of the Donetsk region and force Ukraine to surrender the unoccupied portion. All territory currently occupied by Russia would remain under Russian control. ⬇️

— ChrisO_wiki (@chriso-wiki.bsky.social) 2025-08-08T15:17:03.868Z