Vladimir Putin is demanding that Ukraine give up all of the eastern Donbas region, renounce ambitions to join NATO, remain neutral and keep Western troops out of the country, three sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking told Reuters.

Last month was the deadliest since Putin launched his full-scale war on Ukraine three and a half years ago. In July alone, 286 civilians were killed and another 1,388, according to official data.

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

President Donald Trump has failed to secure an agreement from Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, falling short in his most significant move yet to stop the bloodshed, even after rolling out the red carpet for the man who started it.

Donald Trump has suggest Ukraine has "no chance" of winning the war against Russia - unless it attacks. In a lengthy post to TruthSocial on Thursday evening, the US President said: "It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders country.

Donetsk by October? They’ve been saying that since February of ‘22,” an American serving in the Ukrainian Armed Services said.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, met in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15 for one of the most consequential in-person summits in years. The meeting, which lasted for nearly three hours, ended without a concrete deal.

Under the proposed Russian deal, Kyiv would fully withdraw from the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in return for a Russian pledge to freeze the front lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the sources said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to refuse a ceasefire deal as strikes intensify against Ukraine.