Media “leaked” Moscow’s brazen demands in Saudi Arabia

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Moscow hopes that Trump will put pressure on Kyiv.

At the talks in Saudi Arabia, the Russian side is seeking the complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson regions.

This is reported by The Moscow Times , citing sources “familiar with Kremlin logic.” According to one of the officials, Moscow is eager to gain control over the regions at all costs, as their loss would deal a political blow to the Kremlin’s ruler, Putin:

“The Constitution does not have a mechanism for regions to secede from Russia. We need the entire Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.”

Another official said that U.S. President Donald Trump would either pressure Ukraine to withdraw its troops or tell Russia to engage in protracted negotiations while simultaneously trying to seize the areas. The latter option is worse for Moscow, as it would require an occupying army to cross rivers.

Russia could also try to occupy part of Dnipropetrovsk or Sumy regions in order to “exchange” them for Kherson and Zaporizhia. “We hope to find an option that does not require crossing the Dnieper and storming Kherson. I really hope it does not come to that. This would mean thousands of losses for us,” he added.

A Russian diplomat told reporters that the American president will not be able to “surrender” all of Ukraine, but Moscow hopes that he does not care which territories he “surrenders” to Putin:

“As far as I understand, Trump wants to see a modern, well-armed, pro-Western Ukraine. He can’t just give Ukraine away completely. But where exactly the border will be drawn is not that important to him.”

(C)UNIAN 2025