Russia has signaled a willingness to compromise on all five of the Ukrainian regions it annexed unilaterally in 2022, according to a senior U.S. envoy, in what could mark the most significant shift since the war began.
The concessions emerged during Friday’s Alaska summit between President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin, a three-hour closed-door meeting that both men later described as productive.
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Peace Missions, said that Moscow had shown flexibility on Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia. “There are five regions here. It’s always, in our view, been the crux of the deal,” he said. “The Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions.”
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Washington, he added, is exploring ways to reassure Kyiv in exchange for any potential settlement. Speaking, Witkoff suggested that the United States could provide Ukraine with direct security guarantees that echo NATO’s Article 5—though outside the alliance’s framework. “The United States is potentially prepared to be able to give Article Five security guarantees, but not from NATO, directly from the United States and other European countries,” he said.
For Putin, the summit was presented as a breakthrough. He told reporters afterward that the two leaders had reached an “understanding.” Trump, speaking to Fox News, echoed the sentiment, saying that significant points had been agreed to, with “only minor items” left unresolved.
The proposals are now set to move to a critical stage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss the details—talks that could determine whether the war moves closer to an uneasy peace or sinks back into stalemate.
