Speaking in New York at a meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian community in the United States, Zelensky said the negotiation process has moved away from questions of Ukraine's neutrality and the so-called "Anchorage agreements 3+2," TV Rain reported.
Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian president's office, previously explained that the Russian side understands the "spirit of Anchorage" as an end to the war in which the international community recognizes Russian sovereignty over Crimea, the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and the parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions occupied by the Russian army.
Zelensky attributed the key role in changing the agenda to the Ukrainian military. In his assessment, the situation on the front line allows Kyiv to refuse Moscow's demands, which Ukraine "will never accept in such a format."
Zelensky also said that Vladimir Putin still seeks to occupy all of Ukraine, not just the Donbas.
The phrase "spirit of Anchorage" appeared after the summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska on August 15, 2025, and Russian officials began using it to describe the agreements reached at the meeting. In February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia had accepted the U.S. proposals on Ukraine following the summit, but that Washington was now itself not ready for them, and later noted that "the spirit of Anchorage is evaporating."
According to The Moscow Times, the parameters of the agreements were never officially disclosed. Media reports said they involved the transfer of the entire Donbas to Russia, recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, and Ukraine's renunciation of NATO membership.
Jonathan Powell, the British prime minister's national security adviser, also said that the "Anchorage compromise" had definitively ceased to exist. According to him, Moscow no longer claims that the United States agreed to the transfer of Ukrainian territories and Kyiv's renunciation of the prospect of NATO membership.