«--[· Preface ·]--»
On October 19, two senior U.S. officials told The Washington Post that Putin had recently called on the Ukrainian military to withdraw from the Donetsk region as a condition to end the war.As a concession, Putin is prepared to give up parts of the areas currently occupied by Russian troops in Zaporozhye and Helsinki.
“Putin leaves territory for peace.”
On 19 October, two senior U.S. officials disclosed a pivotal news to the Washington Post. Recently, Russian President Putin had a key conversation with US President Trump.
He called for the Ukrainian army to completely give up control of the Donetsk region, in exchange for which Putin expressed his willingness to give up parts of the territories of Zaporizhia and Herzegovina currently under Russian control.
The proposal immediately excited some White House employees. They defined Putin's statement as an "important concession" and even regarded it as "progress" in peace negotiations. After all, compared with his attitude in April this year, Putin's position has indeed loosened significantly.
When the United States had proposed a ceasefire on the condition of freezing the current front, Putin directly rejected the proposal.
The following August, Putin flew to Anchorage, Alaska, USA to meet with Trump. During that meeting, he was still repeating the tough proposition of taking all four states. In just two months, Putin took the initiative to shrink his demands. This change inevitably gave the United States the illusion that the situation was "controllable." But this illusion quickly hit the wall of reality.
«--[·White House Showdown·]--»
After ending the phone call with Putin, Trump summoned Ukraine President Zelensky at the White House without stopping. This closed-door meeting completely exposed Trump's impatience. According to people familiar with the matter, Trump threw the frontline situation map handed over by Zelensky directly on the table, his tone full of impatience. He repeatedly stressed that Putin had made concessions and that Ukraine must immediately accept the other party's conditions.
Even more striking is Trump's way of pressuring. He not only sells Putin's "territorial exchange for peace" plan, but also continues to add codes through his hand. U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East Witkov on 17 found the Ukrainian delegation. He cast a strong reason, claiming that Donetsk residents mostly speak Russian, meaning that Ukraine should abandon the land.
This naked bias made Ukraine and European officials extremely dissatisfied. A senior European diplomat bluntly criticized this as forcing Ukraine to sell its legs and ultimately not getting any real benefits. Trump obviously ignored these opposition voices.
He also spoke to the media when he flew to Florida, saying that Russia should immediately cease fire on the current front, otherwise it will never solve the problem. he even posted on social media calling on both sides to "stop and let history judge."
“Overturned position.”
Putin’s change of stance was by no means accidental, with clear strategic considerations behind it. The data released earlier by Chief of Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Glazimov, showed that the Russian military currently controls 99.7 per cent of Lugansk, 79 per cent of Donetsk, 74 per cent of Zaporozhye and 76 per cent of Helsinki. The three-and-a-half years of conflict has fallen into a deadlock, and the Russian military’s goal of fully seizing down the Donbas has never been achieved.
In this case, Putin's "concessions" are more like a pragmatic adjustment. Abandoning parts of Zaporozhye and Khersson will not only reduce the pressure of dispersion of troops, but also concentrate resources to consolidate control of Donetsk.
After all, for Russia, Donetsk's strategic value and symbolism are far beyond the edge of the two southern states.This operation of the "abandoned car" is interpreted by the outside as Putin wants to lock the core outcome at the lowest cost.
Kremlin spokesman Peskov's statement also confirmed this point. He publicly stated on the 17th that Russia is open to peaceful resolution of the issue, and Putin also emphasized this point in his phone call with Trump.
But this openness has a bottom line, that is, the core goal of the Russian side must be achieved.In reverse, in April this year, Putin was unwilling to step on the threshold of the ceasefire negotiations, and now proactively throwing the plan, obviously a precise judgment of the situation on the battlefield.
Zelensky refused to step into the trap.
Faced with pressure from the United States and Russia, Zelensky's attitude is quite clear. After meeting with Trump, he admitted that the territorial issue was the most difficult part of the negotiations. But he always insisted on a bottom line: a ceasefire must be achieved first, and then sit down and talk about the status quo.
This position is in stark opposition to Putin's plan. Ukraine has privately revealed that they can accept that Russia retains actual control of part of the occupied territory, but only if it obtains "strong security guarantees" from the United States and Europe.
To them, Putin’s proposal appears to be a concession, and the reality hides a trap. If, according to the Russian plan, Donetsk is abandoned, Ukraine will lose the most important industrial base in the east, and in exchange only the land of the two southern states. This exchange is not equal at all, and it is not surprising that European diplomats would describe it as “selling legs for air.”
Zelensky’s team is more aware of the lessons of history. The Kremlin had mentioned that the 2022 negotiation conditions were more favorable for Ukraine, but Kiev refused at the time. Now that Putin has thrown a new proposal, Peskov also specifically reminded that Ukraine should not wait for the situation to worsen further.
The Ukrainian presidential office directly rejected the Russian proposal, saying its essence was to force Kiev to renounce national sovereignty.
“ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ”
Trump’s upsurge exposed America’s embarrassing situation. Did he get a tough trick to force Putin to make concessions? apparently not. So only to put pressure on Zelensky. After all, for the United States, it has become urgent to end this consumption war as soon as possible.
But the fate of Ukrainians should not be a bargaining chip in the game between great powers. Zelensky's persistence is not only a defense of national sovereignty, but also a resistance to this hegemonic logic. Whether it is Putin's "concession" or Trump's pressure, in the end, there is a basic fact that the signing of the peace agreement must ultimately listen to the voice of Ukrainians.