February 28, 2026

Bloomberg: Russia May Exit Peace Talks If Ukraine Doesn't Cede All of Donetsk Region

Russian officials increasingly believe there's no point in continuing US-led negotiations if Kyiv isn't ready to make territorial concessions in a deal. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources. Sources close to the Kremlin say next week's meetings could be decisive: Russia will likely cease participating in negotiations if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to hand over the entire Donetsk region to Moscow. One source claims Russia is prepared to sign a draft memorandum on a peace agreement if Ukraine agrees to withdraw troops from the unoccupied part of the Donetsk region. This could be followed by a swift summit with Putin, Trump, and Zelensky to confirm agreements, and then a mutual withdrawal of Russian and Ukrainian forces. Bloomberg notes that the territorial issue is the most complex currently. Volodymyr Zelensky insists that the fortified areas of the Donetsk region remaining under Ukrainian control are critically important for defense. Ukraine has previously rejected Russia's demands to withdraw troops from Donbas. Kyiv insists on a ceasefire along the front line provided security guarantees from the US and Europe. One Bloomberg source claims Russia is allegedly ready to withdraw troops from Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv regions, and will not insist on new territorial demands in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. It is also said that Moscow could agree to a US-led ceasefire monitoring and abandon the demand to limit the size of the Ukrainian army. However, the Kremlin is not ready to accept the deployment of foreign troops in Ukraine. It is separately noted that the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant also remains a subject of negotiations. The Kremlin and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.