Putin's NATO Demands Go Beyond Ukraine, Testing Western Unity

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly making maximal demands in peace negotiations that extend far beyond Ukraine, including calls for fundamental changes to NATO's presence in Eastern Europe. The demands appear largely unacceptable to Western allies despite US President Donald Trump's push to end the war. According to reports from Bild and the New York Times, Russia is demanding no further NATO expansions, the removal of alliance bases from Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and a withdrawal of NATO troops and infrastructure across Eastern Europe to 1997 levels. The Kremlin has denied a specific claim about reversing Finland's 2023 NATO membership. The demands would significantly weaken NATO's eastern flank deterrence, affecting German military presence in Lithuania and alliance positions in Poland. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported US negotiators raised the possibility of Ukraine trading NATO membership for territorial concessions in the Donbas, though he stated Ukraine is not ready to give up its territories.