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, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
U.S. and Russian officials are working towards an agreement on territories for a planned summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as early as next week, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. is working to get buy-in from Ukraine and allies in Europe on the deal, which is not yet certain, the people added.
The Russian leader is reportedly demanding that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region, as well as Crimea, which his forces illegally annexed in 2014.
Such a deal would require Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to order a removal of troops from parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions still held by Kyiv, which would be seen as handing Russia a victory that its military was not able to achieve by force since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia would also stop its attacks in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine along the current battle lines as part of the deal, the report said, citing sources close to the truce.
Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline arrived Friday for the Kremlin to make peace and he eyed a possible summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Moscow’s invasion.
Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement.
The Russian leader is reportedly demanding that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region, as well as Crimea, which his forces illegally annexed in 2014
Posting on X, President Zelensky said a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia was still at the forefront of negotiations
The U.S. is working to get buy-in from Ukraine and allies in Europe on the deal, which is not yet certain, sources said
It was unclear what steps Trump intended to take Friday. When asked Thursday whether his deadline would hold, Trump said of Putin: ‘It’s going to be up to him. We’re going to see what he has to say. It’s going to be up to him. Very disappointed.’
Trump’s efforts to pressure Putin into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. Russia’s bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace.
Despite the deadline looming, Russia showed no sign of halting its bombardment last night as missiles rained down on Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin in the Kyiv region, Shostka in the Sumy region and the Nikopol district in Dnipropetrovsk.
After more than three years of war, Ukrainians are increasingly eager for a settlement that ends the fight against Russia’s invasion, according to a new Gallup poll published Thursday – although only about a quarter of Ukrainians surveyed expect the guns to fall silent within the next 12 months.
The enthusiasm for a negotiated deal is a sharp reversal from 2022 – the year the war began – when Gallup found that about three-quarters of Ukrainians wanted to keep fighting until victory.
Now only about one-quarter hold that view, with support for continuing the war declining steadily across all regions and demographic groups.
The findings were based on samples of 1,000 or more respondents ages 15 and older living in Ukraine.
Some territories under entrenched Russian control, representing about 10% of the population, were excluded from surveys conducted after 2022 due to lack of access.
Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia’s relentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.
Ukrainian servicemen of the 148th artillery brigade rest in a dugout at the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Thursday, August 7
Ukrainian servicemen of the 148th artillery brigade load ammunition into a M777 howitzer before firing towards Russian positions at the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Thursday, August 7
Service members of the 48th Separate Artillery Brigade load a shell into a 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer before firing towards Russian troops near a front line amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 27
A serviceman of 152nd Separate Jaeger Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is seen inside a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer in a front line amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine August 5
Ukrainian forces fires a D-30 howitzer towards Russian troops in a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine August 5
Ukrainian forces attacking Russian troops at a front line in Donetsk region on August 5, days before the U.S.-imposed ‘deadline day’ on Putin to agree to a truce
Ukrainian serviceman, aka Bronson, of the 148th artillery brigade carry a 155mm shell in front of M777 howitzer at the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region on August 7
An explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine August 8, 2025
The Russian President said on Thursday that he hoped to meet Trump as early as next week, after saying the desire for a US-Russia summit was ‘mutual’.
While Putin has made clear he will meet the U.S. leader, he has given no promises about laying down his arms.
A Kremlin aide yesterday indicated that Trump and Putin could get together ‘in the coming days’, with the Russian leader suggesting the United Arab Emirates is a possible site for the meeting.
Putin said Thursday that ‘conditions’ for a potential meeting with Zelensky had not been met, hours after the Ukrainian leader repeated a call for direct talks.
‘I have nothing against it in general, it is possible, but certain conditions must be created for this. But unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions,’ Putin told reporters at the Kremlin.
Posting on X, President Zelensky said a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia was still at the forefront of negotiations.
He said: ‘We remain mindful of the need for a real ceasefire. Ukraine is ready for it and there has been no clear public response from Russia yet.’
Former UK defence secretary Ben Wallace previously said it was essential a European power, such as the UK, should be present at the talks.
The Russian leader is reportedly demanding that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region, as well as Crimea, which his forces illegally annexed in 2014
A view shows the ruins of a residential building in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, August 7
Russian drones targeted Kharkiv in a series of new attacks on Ukraine as Donald Trump’s deadline day – August 8 – arrived for sanctions hitting the Putin regime
Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages.
Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine’s northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements being sent from there to Donetsk.
In the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow isn’t interested in peace.
‘It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,’ Buda, the Spartan Brigade commander, told The Associated Press. He used only his call sign, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military.
‘I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them,’ he said.
In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw, said troops are determined to thwart Russia’s invasion.
‘We are on our land, we have no way out,’ he said. ‘So we stand our ground, we have no choice.’
The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Xi ‘expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis.’
Service members of the 48th Separate Artillery Brigade prepare for an attack on Russia in Kharkiv region, Ukraine July 27, 2025
Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war
Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia’s war effort, the U.S. says.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that he also had a call with Putin to speak about the latest Ukraine developments. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, which the American president says is helping to finance Russia’s war.
Putin’s calls followed his phone conversations with the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, the Kremlin said.
The calls suggested to at least one analyst that Putin perhaps wanted to brief Russia’s most important allies about a potential settlement that could be reached at a summit with Trump.
‘It means that some sort of real peace agreement has been reached for the first time,’ said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin Moscow-based analyst.
Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Zelensky. That stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent’s biggest conflict since World War II.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment Thursday that ‘Putin remains uninterested in ending his war and is attempting to extract bilateral concessions from the United States without meaningfully engaging in a peace process.’
‘Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia’s side and that Russia can outlast Ukraine and the West,’ it said.
The Daily Mail contacted the White House for comment.
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