Putin Demands NATO Freeze and Sanctions Relief to End Ukraine War

President Vladimir Putin is reportedly demanding firm Western guarantees to halt NATO’s eastward expansion and lift key sanctions on Russia as conditions for ending the war in Ukraine, according to three sources familiar with Moscow’s negotiating stance.

The Russian leader’s position comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced increasing frustration with Putin’s refusal to engage in ceasefire talks, even as Russian forces gain ground in eastern Ukraine. Trump, who has expressed a desire to broker peace, warned earlier this week that Putin was “playing with fire.”

According to sources close to the Kremlin, Putin told Trump during a more than two-hour phone call last week that he was willing to work with Kyiv on a memorandum outlining a potential peace agreement, including a ceasefire timeline. Moscow is said to be drafting its version of the memorandum, though there is no clear timeframe for completion.

“Putin is ready to make peace but not at any price,” one senior Russian official told Reuters, adding that Moscow seeks a written commitment from Western powers to halt NATO’s enlargement — effectively barring Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and other ex-Soviet states from joining the alliance.

Russia’s broader demands include Ukraine’s neutrality, partial sanctions relief, a resolution on frozen Russian sovereign assets in the West, and legal protections for Russian-speaking populations in Ukraine, according to all three sources.

Kyiv and its European allies, however, accuse Moscow of stalling negotiations to gain more ground on the battlefield. Ukraine continues to insist that Russia should not be allowed to veto its aspirations to join NATO and demands firm Western security guarantees.

The Kremlin has not commented on the reports, but officials have long said any deal must address what they call the “root causes” of the conflict — chiefly NATO’s post-Cold War expansion and Western military support for Ukraine.

NATO, which maintains an “open door” policy on enlargement, declined to respond to Reuters’ inquiries. The alliance has repeatedly stated it will not change its stance based on Russian demands.

Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, following eight years of conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas. Russia now controls roughly 20% of Ukraine, including large portions of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, as well as Crimea, annexed in 2014.

Despite recent battlefield advances, Russia is facing growing pressure at home from its wartime economy. Inflation, labour shortages, and declining oil revenues are adding to domestic challenges, Reuters previously reported.

Meanwhile, Trump has warned Moscow that further U.S. sanctions could follow if peace efforts stall. In a recent post on social media, the former president claimed Putin had “gone CRAZY” after launching a massive aerial attack on Ukraine.

Sources suggest Putin believes military pressure could eventually force Ukraine and the West into accepting his terms. “If Putin realises he cannot get peace on his terms now, he will push further militarily to make tomorrow’s peace even more painful,” one official said.

Putin’s stance on the territory has also hardened. The Kremlin now insists Ukraine must fully withdraw from the four eastern regions claimed by Russia. A second source said Putin is less willing to compromise on territorial issues, calling it a shift toward a more rigid negotiating position.

As the war continues, Western leaders worry that a Russian victory in Ukraine could embolden future aggression, potentially even against NATO itself. While Moscow dismisses these warnings as scare tactics, it has also said the conflict could escalate into a broader confrontation if not resolved.

At the heart of the impasse is NATO enlargement. Since the alliance declared in 2008 that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join, Russia has repeatedly objected. In 2021, before the invasion, Moscow proposed a draft agreement to stop NATO’s expansion — a proposal rejected by the West.

Two sources said Putin wants a written NATO pledge because he believes the U.S. broke verbal assurances given in the early 1990s after the fall of the Berlin Wall. While such promises were never codified, they remain a point of deep contention in Moscow’s foreign policy.

NATO, founded in 1949, has labelled Russia the most “significant and direct threat” to European security. In response to the Ukraine invasion, Finland joined NATO in 2023, followed by Sweden in 202, further isolating Russia in the region.

While Putin views the war as a turning point in Moscow’s relations with the West, leaders in the U.S. and Europe continue to describe the invasion as an imperial-style land grab — one they are determined not to allow to succeed.