President Putin seeks formal recognition from the U.S. for four Ukrainian regions—Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson—as part of Russia, alongside Crimea, which was seized and annexed in 2014, according to the Kommersant daily.

Sources who attended a private business event with Putin reported that he expressed this desire while noting that, despite military advances, Russia does not fully control any of the four regions. In exchange for recognition, which he hopes could happen soon, Putin would consider refraining from claiming the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and other Ukrainian territories.

When asked about this report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin and Trump did not discuss the recognition idea during their recent call. However, he confirmed that Putin addressed the topic in a closed-door meeting with Russia's business elite. Peskov did not clarify whether the notion of U.S. recognition for the four regions was specifically mentioned at that meeting.