Moscow appears to have rejected President Trump’s latest call to freeze the current front lines in Ukraine, reiterating that “Russia’s stance doesn’t change.”
Addressing Trump’s proposal over the weekend that the war in Ukraine end immediately and each side keep the land they hold, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov scoffed at the prospect of allowing Kyiv to keep parts of the Donbas region.
Russia has rejected a recent proposition by President Trump to freeze Ukraine’s front lines. Pool/ABACA/Shutterstock“This topic was repeatedly raised in various forms during contacts between Russia and the US. The Russian side answered every time, this answer is well known: The consistency of Russia’s position doesn’t change,” Peskov told the local media.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov (right) scoffed at the proposal. via REUTERSRussian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Ukraine must surrender the entire Donbas region for any kind of cease-fire deal to go through.
The Russian military currently controls the vast majority of the Donbas, including all of the Luhansk Oblast and about 75% of the Donetsk Oblast, according to open source maps and independent analysts.
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a D-30 howitzer near Kupiansk on October 4, 2025. REUTERSMoscow, however, has struggled to claim Donetsk’s so-called “fortress belt,” which has expelled Russia’s invasion forces for more than three years.
Ukraine has repeatedly said that surrendering the region is a non-starter, fearing that Russia would build up another invasion force and have an easier time conquering the country with the Donetsk fortress belt gone.
Putin made it clear to Trump during a phone call — which was held prior to the president’s meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky — that Russia wanted Ukraine to surrender Donetsk, the Washington Post reported.
The call with Putin was followed by a three-hour sit-down with Zelensky, where Trump proposed to end the fighting and have the front lines stop “where they are.”
Putin and Trump spoke over the phone last week before the president met with Zelensky. AP“So what I say is they should stop right now at the battle lines. Go home, stop killing people and be done,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
The president denied reports that the meeting with Zelensky descended into a “shouting match” and that he urged the wartime leader to give up the entire Donbas region — or be “destroyed” by Russia.
Despite rejecting Trump’s proposal, Peskov said the Kremlin was still prepared to welcome a meeting between Trump and Putin to discuss a cease-fire deal.
Trump takes a question from a reporter during a lunch meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Getty ImagesThe two leaders are expected to meet in Budapest in the coming weeks, but it remains to be seen if Zelensky will join them.
Trump and Putin previously met during a summit in Alaska over the summer.
