Ukraine war latest: White House ‘considering’ inviting Zelenskyy to Trump-Putin summit | World News

Vladimir Putin will head into talks with Donald Trump demanding that Ukraine give up the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, of which Russia occupies 75% and 99% respectively.

This would mean Ukraine abandoning its best defensive fortifications – separating the Ukrainian-held and Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk – in return for nothing, military analysts say.

It would allow Russia to avoid years of bloody struggle to break through this “fortress belt”, advance 51 miles, and line up its troops on the edge of the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

With much more open terrain, these borders are difficult to defend, enabling the Kremlin to more easily launch another invasion in future.

“Putin’s reported proposal reportedly demands that Ukraine concede this critical defensive position, which Russian forces currently have no means of rapidly enveloping or penetrating, apparently in exchange for nothing,” the ISW said.

The think tank added it would provide “favourable conditions” for Russia to renew fighting and attack Kharkiv, starting with Izyum and leading to Kharkiv city.

“Russian forces will almost certainly violate any future ceasefire or peace agreement and renew military aggression against Ukraine in the future unless a peace agreement includes robust monitoring mechanisms and security guarantees for Ukraine.”

Enormous, urgent investment from Western allies would be required to build up massive defensive fortifications in Donetsk, running through open terrain, to avoid this, said the ISW.