In what could be the most telling shift in tone since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly floated a ceasefire proposal to the United States — one that would freeze the war in Ukraine along the current front line, essentially locking in Russia’s territorial gains.
The offer, revealed by the Financial Times on April 22 via unnamed sources, was allegedly delivered during a quiet meeting between Putin and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg. If true, this marks the first serious sign that Putin might be willing to ease up on his battlefield ambitions — but the fine print has set off alarm bells across Europe and Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov quickly tried to muddy the waters, casting doubt on the story’s accuracy. “A lot of fakes are being published now,” he said to Russian state media, “even by respected publications.” But behind the spin, the core idea is raising eyebrows: Putin, according to insiders, wants to press pause — but only if the world accepts his redrawn map.
To be clear, the front line Putin wants to freeze includes not just the contested Donbas region, but also four Ukrainian oblasts — Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk — that Russia illegally annexed in 2022. Not to mention Crimea, which Russia has occupied since 2014. International law doesn’t recognize any of this as Russian territory, but Moscow continues to demand exactly that.
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And here’s where things get really thorny: According to Wall Street Journal reports, the U.S. has floated a counterproposal that might — might — involve recognizing Russia’s control over Crimea and even barring Ukraine from NATO. The backlash to this idea has been swift and fierce.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded with zero ambiguity.
“This is our territory, the territory of the people of Ukraine,” he said on April 22. “As soon as talks about Crimea and our sovereign territories begin, the talks enter the format that Russia wants — prolonging the war.”
European officials are also skeptical, warning that Putin’s “peace” offer could be a strategic trap aimed at nudging U.S. President Donald Trump (yes, he’s back in the picture) toward making broader concessions to the Kremlin. The optics of the U.S. negotiating a deal that favors Russia — potentially at Ukraine’s expense — would be politically radioactive on both sides of the Atlantic.
Witkoff, the U.S. envoy who reportedly conveyed Putin’s offer, is expected to visit Moscow again soon. He’s already facing heat for what critics call an overly conciliatory stance toward Russian interests.
As it stands, Ukraine, the U.S., the U.K., and France are set to continue high-stakes talks in London on April 23. Washington has signaled that if these negotiations don’t lead anywhere fast, the U.S. may pull the plug on its mediation efforts altogether.
So, is this the beginning of the end — or just another phase in Russia’s long game? One thing is certain: for Ukraine, a “frozen” war is anything but peace.
