Russia has emphasized that the Anchorage summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump established the guiding framework for all future efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Speaking to RIA Novosti, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Moscow must make it clear to Washington that there is “no alternative path.”
“Our main goal now is to convey to the Americans that Anchorage has set the framework within which we need to work. There is no alternative path,” Ryabkov stated.
According to the diplomat, both Russia and the United States should base their subsequent actions on the positions outlined by their leaders during the Alaska meeting.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, has declined to elaborate on the details of the recent phone call between Putin and Trump. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had already provided “all the information we intended to share” regarding the topic of potential territorial exchanges.
“We have nothing more to add,” Peskov told reporters, according to RBC.
Kremlin Dismisses Reports of Territorial Exchange
The Washington Post earlier reported that during his October 16 phone call with Trump—held on the eve of the Trump–Zelensky meeting—Putin allegedly demanded Ukraine’s full renunciation of the Donbas region as a condition for a ceasefire. In return, sources claimed, Russia would consider transferring parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to Ukrainian control. Trump’s special envoy Steven Witkoff was said to have echoed that demand during White House talks.
The Kremlin, however, has firmly denied any discussions of territorial exchanges. Russian officials reiterated that Moscow has “never sought to seize territory” and that the country’s borders are defined by its Constitution. “This says it all,” noted Aleksey Fadeev, Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department.
Budapest Summit Still in Preparation
According to Peskov, details of the planned Budapest summit between Putin and Trump remain undecided. When asked about a possible invitation for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin spokesman said there was “no specific information yet” on the structure of the talks. He confirmed that both presidents had discussed the idea during their latest phone call, the eighth since Trump’s return to the White House.
The call on October 16 helped determine Budapest as the tentative venue for the next meeting. American officials have not ruled out the possibility that Zelensky could join the talks. However, the Ukrainian leader has expressed skepticism about Budapest as a host city, citing his lack of trust in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Zelensky suggested that more suitable venues might include Switzerland, Austria, the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or Turkey.
According to the Kremlin, the proposal to hold the summit in Hungary came from the U.S. side. Peskov noted that Hungary’s dual status as both an EU and NATO member, combined with its “sovereign position,” commanded respect in Moscow.
