Bloomberg: Russia refuses to return parts of Sumy and Kharkiv regions to Ukraine

According to Bloomberg, Russia has abandoned concessions to Ukraine on the territorial issue and no longer intends to return to Kyiv parts of the occupied territories of Sumy and Kharkiv regions as part of a peace deal.

The outlet’s sources say that Moscow plans to retain these territories as buffer zones. In addition, according to Bloomberg’s interlocutors, Russia is now allegedly prepared to hold negotiations only after seizing the remainder of Donbas. Bloomberg links the hardening of Russia’s position to Ukraine’s strikes on Russian territory.

The outlet also reports that Russia allegedly views recent statements by American officials as evidence that the agreements reached in Anchorage have “collapsed.”

On July 17, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia had agreed during the Alaska meeting to proposals by U.S. President Donald Trump for resolving the Ukrainian crisis, but that Europe and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are trying to talk Trump out of these steps. Lavrov also called Washington Times journalists “shameless” over an article claiming that Russia had allegedly rejected American proposals on the Ukrainian issue at the Alaska summit.

At the end of June, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the Kremlin is ready to continue discussions with the White House on the topics raised in Anchorage. On June 28, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that the “spirit of Anchorage” no longer exists and called on Russia to begin negotiations with Kyiv.