Putin commented on the “Anchorage formula”: Ukraine must withdraw from Donbas

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin in Alaska, illustrative photo: White House

The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmytro Peskov, said that the Kremlin insists on the withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Donbas, as it seems to be an important condition for negotiations on the end of the war.

Source: Russian “Interfax”

Details: Peskov, in particular, was asked whether the “Anchorage formula”, which is being discussed at the negotiations, provides for complete control of the Russian Federation over the Ukrainian Donbas, or whether there are other options.

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Peskov’s direct speech: “First of all, we, of course, do not want to publicly go into the details of the provisions that are being discussed, and therefore what formula is meant by the “Anchorage formula”, I cannot and will not tell you, we consider it inappropriate.”

Details: At the same time, he added that “Russia’s position is well known that Ukraine, the Ukrainian armed forces should leave the territory of Donbas, they should be withdrawn from there.”

“This is a very important condition. There are also other nuances that remain on the agenda of the negotiations,” said the Kremlin speaker.

What happened before:

• Negotiations between the Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the special representative of the American president Stephen Witkoff took place in the Kremlin. They lasted more than 3.5 hours.
• Assistant to the head of the Russian Federation, Yuriy Ushakov, after Vladimir Putin’s talks with the American delegation, said that without a solution to the territorial issue “according to the Anchorage formula”, it is not worth counting on long-term peace in Ukraine.

Prehistory:

• US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on August 15, 2025 at the military base in Anchorage, Alaska.
• This event ended without an agreement or declaration of a ceasefire in Ukraine, despite claims of “significant progress”.
• On August 16, 2025, after negotiations with Putin, Trump had a conversation first with Zelensky, and then with him and with European leaders.
• According to Bloomberg, during a conversation with European leaders and Zelensky, Trump said that Putin continues to demand the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but is ready to freeze the front in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

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