Kremlin Rules Out Territorial Concessions in Ukraine Peace Deal, Bloomberg Says

The Kremlin has hardened its position and no longer intends to return any occupied Ukrainian territories as part of a potential peace deal, Bloomberg reported on July 22, citing sources close to the Russian leadership. Vladimir Putin still plans to establish full control over Donbas and retain the captured portions of Sumy and Kharkiv regions as "buffer zones."

According to the sources, Putin abandoned the idea of territorial concessions after the Kremlin concluded that informal understandings reached at the Russia-U.S. presidential summit in Anchorage in August 2025 had been broken. Two of Bloomberg’s sources said Russia is prepared to return to negotiations only after fully seizing the Donetsk region. The Defense Ministry assured Putin that this could be achieved by the end of 2026. However, a source close to the Defense Ministry noted that many Russian military officials consider that timeline unrealistic, arguing that full control over Donbas could only be achieved sometime in 2027.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not initially respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment, but later at a briefing on July 22, he said the Bloomberg publication should not be taken seriously, calling it "belongs to the category of speculation."

Bloomberg said the Kremlin toughened its stance as Ukraine intensified long-range strikes inside Russia, including against Moscow and oil refineries, as well as President Donald Trump’s endorsement of a new sanctions bill initiated by the late Senator Lindsey Graham.

In June, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that during the Alaska summit, only proposals for ending Russia’s war with Ukraine were discussed, but no agreements were reached. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that if the U.S. had put forward settlement proposals and Russia had agreed to them, one could not say that "no agreement was reached." Putin said that "compromises and certain possibilities" were discussed in Anchorage but no formal documents were signed.

In early July, Reuters reported that Putin is rejecting proposals for peace talks with Ukraine and will most likely escalate the conflict. According to the agency, Ukraine’s intensified strikes on Russian oil refineries have only strengthened Putin’s resolve to continue combat operations.