President Vladimir Putin signaled to a group of top Russian business leaders that Moscow could be prepared to consider limited territorial swaps in Ukraine as part of a broader peace arrangement, while insisting that all of the Donbas region must remain under Russian control, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant. The reported comments add new detail to ongoing U.S.-brokered talks involving Russia, Ukraine and European partners on ending the nearly three-year war.

The account, published by Kommersant Kremlin correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov and echoed in Reuters reporting, comes as Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators work to finalize a 20‑point plan discussed over the weekend in Miami.

Why It Matters

The reported remarks shed light on Russia’s current war aims in Ukraine and the shape of a possible settlement being explored in talks involving U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

They suggest:

• Moscow is holding firm on its demand to retain the entire Donbas region.
• The Kremlin may be willing to discuss exchanging some territories outside Donbas currently occupied by Russian forces.
• Sensitive issues such as control and management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are being folded into the negotiations, including potential joint Russian‑U.S. oversight.

Any agreement along these lines would have far‑reaching implications for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, European security architecture and the precedent set for resolving conflicts involving territorial occupation.

What to Know

Putin’s reported comments to business leaders

According to Kommersant, Putin briefed leading Russian businessmen during a late‑night Kremlin meeting on December 24 about elements of a potential settlement:

• Putin said Russia was “still ready to make the concessions” he claims to have offered at a summit with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, in August, often referred to by Russian officials as the “Anchorage understandings.”
• He reiterated that “Donbas is ours,” indicating Moscow’s position that the entire Donbas region should remain under Russian control.
• Outside Donbas, Kommersant reported that “a partial exchange of territories from the Russian side is not ruled out,” suggesting some flexibility over other occupied areas.

Russian officials have previously alluded to unspecified understandings between Putin and Trump at Anchorage, but the full content of those discussions has not been disclosed.

Russian territorial control and demands

Russian estimates, say Moscow currently controls:

• All of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014
• About 90% of Donbas
• Roughly 75% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions
• Smaller areas of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions

On December 19, Putin said he believed a peace agreement should be based on conditions he first outlined in 2024:

• Ukraine’s withdrawal from all of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions
• A formal pledge from Kyiv to renounce its goal of joining NATO

Ukraine–U.S. talks and the 20‑point plan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian and U.S. delegations had moved closer to finalizing a 20‑point plan during talks in Miami over the weekend.

However, Zelenskiy underscored key points of disagreement:

• Ukraine and the United States have not agreed on demands that Kyiv cede the parts of Donbas it still controls.
• They have also not reached common ground on the future status of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which remains under Russian military control.

Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to end what Reuters describes as the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, has tasked Witkoff and Kushner with leading U.S. efforts in talks involving Russia, Ukraine and European governments.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and new proposals

At the Kremlin meeting, Putin also addressed the fate of the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear facility.

• Joint Russian‑U.S. management of the plant is being discussed as part of the broader negotiations.
• Putin reportedly said the United States had expressed interest in crypto mining near the plant.
• He added that Zaporizhzhia should partly supply electricity to Ukraine under a potential arrangement.

The plant has been a focal point of international concern since Russia took control following its invasion in February 2022, with Western governments and nuclear watchdogs warning of safety and security risks.

What People Are Saying

Russian officials and media

Russian officials have repeatedly referenced what they term “understandings” between Putin and Trump from their Anchorage summit without disclosing details. The Kommersant report, is one of the first to suggest that these may include:

• Russian insistence on full control over Donbas
• A potential framework for exchanging other territories
• Proposals involving joint management of strategic infrastructure such as Zaporizhzhia

Kolesnikov’s description indicates the Kremlin is presenting these ideas not only to foreign interlocutors but also to influential domestic economic figures.

Ukraine and the United States

Zelenskiy’s comments highlight Ukraine’s resistance to any arrangement that would formalize the loss of remaining government‑held parts of Donbas or leave the future of Zaporizhzhia ambiguous.

While U.S. officials have not published the full 20‑point plan, reports suggests Washington is exploring a package that would:

• Halt active hostilities
• Define control and administration of contested territories
• Address Ukraine’s broader security guarantees and Western integration, including its NATO ambitions

Publicly, the U.S. administration has maintained support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, while engaging with Russian proposals through Trump’s designated envoys.

What Happens Next

Negotiations are expected to continue as Ukrainian and U.S. teams work to complete the 20‑point framework discussed in Miami. Several key questions remain unresolved:

• Whether Kyiv will accept any form of territorial concession in Donbas or elsewhere
• How control, safety and oversight of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant will be structured under a deal
• What security guarantees Ukraine might receive in lieu of or alongside future NATO membership
• How any “territory swap” mechanism would be defined, monitored and recognized internationally

Russia’s invasion, launched in February 2022 and officially termed a “special military operation” by the Kremlin, continues on multiple fronts as diplomatic talks proceed. The contours of any eventual agreement—particularly over Donbas, other occupied regions and strategic assets like Zaporizhzhia—will determine whether the conflict is frozen, formally settled or continues in altered form.

Both Reuters analyses indicate that Putin’s latest signals are aimed at shaping those terms while testing how far Ukraine and its Western backers are prepared to go in any compromise.