The United States will demand that Russia recognize Ukraine’s right to maintain its own military and defense industry as part of a potential peace deal, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the ongoing negotiations.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to raise the issue during his next meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Bloomberg reported.
For Moscow, agreeing to the demand would mean giving up on its stated war aim of demilitarizing Ukraine.
The reported demand signals that Washington will seek some concessions from Russia as it seeks to end the war.
Critics say that Trump and his negotiators have so far catered to Russian interests, including proposals to recognize Crimea as Russian territory and rule out NATO membership for Ukraine, while asking Moscow for few concessions in return.
The U.S. also wants Moscow to return control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which it seized in 2022, Bloomberg cited its sources as saying. The plant would then be administered by the U.S. to provide energy to both sides.
Other U.S. demands include the restoration of Ukrainian access to the Dnipro River and the return of Russian-occupied land in the Kharkiv region, Bloomberg reported.
Putin, meanwhile, continues to push for the recognition of Russian sovereignty over Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which it only partially occupies.
Trump called on Putin to end his war on Ukraine after Russian airstrikes against Kyiv early Thursday killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens more, making it the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital in nearly a year.
"I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing," Trump wrote on social media. "Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let's get this Peace Deal DONE!"
The attacks threw yet more doubt on already fraught U.S. efforts to push Russia and Ukraine to agree to a ceasefire, hours after Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing to accept Moscow's occupation of Crimea as a condition for peace.
Trump and other U.S. officials have warned in recent days that Washington could abandon its efforts to negotiate peace if a deal is not reached soon.
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