• Putin demands Ukraine cede the Donbas region and renounce NATO ambitions.
• The proposal includes a halt to troop deployments by Western countries in Ukraine.
• U.S. President Trump facilitated discussions between Putin and Ukrainian President Zelenskiy.
• Ukraine's leadership has rejected these terms, considering them unacceptable.
• Peace talks speculate on potential agreements recognized by the U.N. Security Council.

Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce its NATO ambitions, remain neutral, and keep Western troops out of the country, according to sources familiar with Kremlin discussions. Following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in August, Putin expressed hope that their three-hour summit could pave the way for peace in Ukraine, despite neither leader providing specifics about their discussions, as noted by Reuters, Channel News Asia, and HuffPost.

Putin's latest proposal reflects a compromise from earlier demands requiring Ukraine to relinquish four provinces, including Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. In return for Ukraine's complete withdrawal from the parts of the Donbas it controls, Russia would agree to halt its front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Currently, Russia occupies about 88% of Donbas, with significant portions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia also under its control, according to U.S. estimates cited by Reuters and Channel News Asia.

Further, Putin continues to insist on a legally binding pledge from NATO that excludes any further eastward expansion, alongside limits on the Ukrainian military and an agreement preventing any Western peacekeeping forces from entering Ukraine. However, the gap between the two nations remains vast, more than three years after Russia's full-scale invasion began, following the 2014 annexation of Crimea, according to sources including HuffPost.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has categorically rejected the notion of ceding recognized Ukrainian territory, insisting that such a withdrawal is vital for Ukraine's survival and critical defense, a sentiment echoed in communications reported by Reuters and Channel News Asia.

According to political analysts, the insistence on Ukrainian withdrawal from the Donbas remains politically and strategically untenable for Kyiv. Samuel Charap from RAND remarked that any proposal demanding such withdrawal is likely to be viewed as a non-starter, implying that milital openness to peace would require real compromise, as highlighted by Reuters and HuffPost.

Reports indicate that Trump expressed a desire to facilitate an end to the hostilities, aiming for a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian leaders, potentially leading to a trilateral U.S. summit. "I believe Vladimir Putin wants to see it ended," Trump stated in the presence of Zelenskiy, emphasizing confidence in resolution efforts, as mentioned by Reuters and Channel News Asia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that while Putin is willing to meet with Zelenskiy, many issues must be resolved first, including questions surrounding Zelenskiy's authority to negotiate a peace deal. The legitimacy of Zelenskiy's presidency has been scrutinized due to the war's impact on electoral processes, underscoring the complexity of reaching a consensus, as reported by Reuters and HuffPost.

As discussions for peace continue, there are two potential paths: war or peace, as reiterated by one of the Kremlin sources, highlighting the urgent necessity for compromise to avoid further conflict, according to Channel News Asia and HuffPost.