Vladimir Putin asked Donald Trump, during her their telephone communicationto demand that Kiev hand over full control of Donetsk to Russia as a condition for ending the war, two senior officials tell the Washington Post.

Donetsk is a strategically important region in eastern Ukraine, and the Russian leader has been unsuccessfully trying to capture the territory for 11 years. Ukrainian forces are resisting, as it is a major bastion for Russia’s rapid advance west and towards Kiev.

The same officials stress that Putin’s focus on Donetsk suggests that does not derogate from previous requirements which have led a potential peace deal to an impasse.

Russia and Moscow-backed separatists have claimed parts of the region since 2014but they have not been able to conquer the entire region by force.

Trump himself has not taken a position on the demands of Putin, whom will meet in Hungary in the coming weeks to discuss a peace plan to end the war.

“It’s time to stop the killing and make a DEAL! Enough blood has been spilled… They must stop where they are. Let both winners declare, let history decide! No more shootings, no more deaths, no more huge and unbearable amounts of money being spent. This is a war that would never have started had I been President. Thousands of people are slaughtered every week. It is enough, go to your families in peace,” Trump wrote on social media on Friday after his meeting with Zelensky.

In the new phone call, the Russian leader said that would be willing to deliver parts of two other areas of Ukraine which has partially conquered: the Zaporizhia and the Kherson in exchange for full control of Donetsk, the officials said.

This is a slightly less radical territorial claim from the one he made in August at the summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska. And White House officials characterize that claim as progress.

However, a senior European diplomat reports that the Ukrainians probably don’t see it the same way. “It’s like cutting off their leg for nothing”the diplomat commented.

The front lines between Russian and Ukrainian forces have largely been remain stationary according to during the last year of the conflict, with neither side gaining a significant advantage. Russia currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, according to the Washington Post.

The same officials I mentioned that Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, pressured the Ukrainian delegation to hand over Donetsk during Friday’s meeting, pointing out that the region is predominantly Russian-speaking — an argument often used by the Kremlin as well.

Ukraine has backed Trump’s call for a ceasefire on the front lines, and officials say privately they accept that Russia is likely to retain de facto control of the territory it has seized. At the same time, they seek strong security guarantees from Washington and them Europeans so that Russia does not start a war again.

Trump was asked Friday if Putin was trying to buy time, but he said he was not concerned. “In my life I have played with the best and I did very well”he said, noting that he does not mind if more time is needed for the agreement. “But I think I’m pretty good at this stuff»the American president emphasized.