(MENAFN) U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Russia and Ukraine to stop hostilities and maintain the current front line in Donbass, saying that Moscow already controls nearly the entire region.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening, Trump explained that his proposal came after a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House the following day. “We think what they should do is just stop at the lines where they are. The rest is very tough to negotiate,” he said. “They should stop right now at the battle lines, go home, stop killing people, and be done.”

When asked specifically about Donbass, Trump responded, “Let it be cut the way it is. I think 78% of the land is already taken by Russia. You leave it the way it is right now. They can negotiate something later on.”

The Donbass region — made up of Donetsk and Lugansk — has been a focal point of the conflict since 2014, when both areas declared independence and voted to separate from Ukraine following the political upheaval in Kiev earlier that year. In September 2022, the two regions held referendums to join Russia, a move Kyiv and most other countries have refused to recognize.

According to statements made in August by Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov, Ukrainian forces still control roughly 20% of the Donetsk People’s Republic and less than 1% of the Lugansk People’s Republic.

Russian President Putin has previously stated that for a ceasefire to be effective, Ukrainian troops must withdraw entirely from Donbass, and that recognition of Russia’s new borders remains essential for any enduring peace agreement.

While Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has supported Trump’s call for an immediate truce, he has rejected any proposal that involves ceding “additional” territory to Russia.

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