Bloomberg: Russia Drops Alaska Deal, Keeps Buffer Zones
Bloomberg reports Russia has abandoned territorial concessions after tensions with Washington and now plans to retain border areas as buffer zones near Russia.
Russian officials believe recent statements from the White House signal the collapse of informal understandings allegedly reached during the meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Anchorage in the summer of 2025, Bloomberg reported, citing three sources.
The US side maintains that no agreement on resolving the Ukraine conflict was concluded at the Alaska summit. Kremlin representatives, however, have repeatedly referred to a broader package of mutual commitments.
According to Bloomberg, the alleged proposal would have required Kiev to surrender territory in the eastern part of the Donetsk region. In exchange, Moscow could have withdrawn its forces from some occupied areas of the Sumy and Kharkov regions.
The agency’s sources said Russia was no longer prepared to return any of the territories it controls as part of a settlement and intended to retain them as buffer zones.
They also claimed that Putin had abandoned the possibility of territorial concessions after increasingly confrontational statements from Washington. Moscow reportedly interpreted the shift in US rhetoric as evidence that the informal understanding reached with Trump was no longer valid.
Bloomberg reported that Russia now intends to establish full control over the eastern part of the Donetsk People’s Republic. At the same time, Moscow allegedly plans to retain areas of the Sumy and Kharkov regions near the Russian border, viewing them as protective buffer territories.
Earlier reports said the US administration had declined to allocate $400 million in military aid to Ukraine. US Senator Dick Durbin said the final decision on the issue would be left to the next president of the United States.