Putin Preparing New Offensive After Trump Meeting, Zelensky Says, As Ukraine Softens Stance On Giving Up Territory

During his Monday night address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there are no signs on the ground that Russia is preparing for peaceful settlement ahead of the Trump-Putin summit set for Alaska this Friday.

“On the contrary, they are moving their troops and forces in such a way as to launch new offensive operations,” he said, citing his own Ukraine’s intelligence.

He accused Putin of merely seeking to portray Friday’s meeting as a personal triumph, after which he intends to maintain the same level of military pressure on Ukraine, and noted Russian troop movements indicate preparations for potential new offensives.

“There is not a single sign that the Russians have been told to prepare for a post-war situation – not yet. On the contrary, they are moving their troops and forces in ways that indicate they plan to launch new offensive operations. No one preparing for peace acts this way,” he described, saying Ukraine is sharing this intelligence with its allies.

Monday saw Russian sabotage and reconnaissance units reportedly operating near the northwest of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, where Russian forces have lately made slow but steady gains, and have been concentrating their efforts, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

A report in The Telegraph meanwhile states that Zelensky is to the point of being willing to give up territory for the sake of peace, but in a limited sense of a battle line freeze and not in the way of full and permanent political cessation of land or recognition:

Ukraine could agree to stop fighting and cede territory already held by Russia as part of a European-backed plan for peace. Volodymyr Zelensky told European leaders that they must reject any settlement proposed by Donald Trump in which Ukraine gives up further territory – but that Russia could be allowed to retain some of the land it has taken.

This would mean freezing the front line where it is and handing Russia de facto control of the territory it occupies in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea.

The softening of the negotiating position comes ahead of talks between Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

“The plan can only be related to the current positions held by the militaries,” a Western official said, characterising a frantic weekend of diplomacy between Kyiv and its allies.

Russia wants full Ukrainian military withdrawal from any remaining areas of fighting in Donetsk or elsewhere in the Donbas, and it’s anything but clear whether Zelensky would really agree to this.

Washington is reporteldy envisioning a the same time a ‘freeze’ of positions, which would leave Russia in an indefinite occupation of the east, but without official political recognition. 

Putin may not agree even to this scheme, given the four territories have since 2022 been declared part of the Russian Federation after a wartime ‘popular referendum’ settled the issue from Moscow’s point of view. This is also as everything indicates Moscow forces have the full momentum on their side, leaving Kiev with little or no leverage. A freeze without political precognition would likely be seen by the Kremlin as a recipe for more future war. It could just allow Ukraine to regroup and try to get the four territories back one day down the road, with NATO help.

In a surprising devleopment, Financial Times’ chief correspondent in Ukraine has relayed an urgent message from Bohdan Krotevych, former chief of staff of the Azov brigade and a National Guard lieutenant colonel, who warns of absoute chaos outside of Pokrovsk: “And this chaos has been growing for a long time, worsening with each passing day… A stable line of combat contact, as such, effectively doesn’t exist.”

Bohdan Krotevych, former chief of staff of the Azov brigade and a National Guard lieutenant colonel: “Mr. President, I sincerely don’t know what exactly is being reported to you, but I’m informing you: on the Pokrovsk – Kostiantynivka line, without exaggeration, it’s complete… https://t.co/ROio04hDFH

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) August 11, 2025

This is yet another indicicator that Ukraine’s defense lines in key places could be in shambles just as the Alaska talks get underway.

There’s talk of Zelensky being invited to the same venue, but it doesn’t seem he’s bringing much in the way of leverage – other than the constant cross-border drone attack which have inflicted at times significant damage on oil refineries, energy infrastructure, and military bases.

Other Ukrainian sources monitoring the conflict are also speaking of Russian advances and breakthroughs in strategic front line areas. If this is accurate, perhaps Zelensky senses it’s time to try and negotiate fast before suffering more losses? The Western allies know the clock is ticking too.

BREAKING:

The Russian Army has broken through Ukraine’s defensive lines near Dobropillya and have advanced more than 10 km over the past 48 hours.

The Dobropillya-Kramatorsk highway, a key supply line for the Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Pokrovsk, has been cut off.

This is… pic.twitter.com/cmM1ChBWog

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 11, 2025

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov said he hopes the upcoming meeting Presidents Putin and Trump will give momentum to normalization of Russia-US relations, according to TASS, in wording which suggests the Kremlin is looking at the initiative as first and foremost focused on improvement of bilateral relations. This means Putin does see the very optics of a meeting itself as a huge diplomatic win, which signals to the world that he can’t be fully isolated.