The Ministry of Defence has revealed why Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to hand over large swathes of its unoccupied land to end the war.

In its latest intelligence update on the conflict, the MoD said Russia would be forced to fight for more than four years and suffer nearly two million casualties if it had to fight for it.

The analysis came as Putin set out his peace plans at a summit with Donald Trump in Alaska.

According to the Reuters news agency , the proposed deal would see Ukraine fully withdraw from the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions in return for a Russian pledge to freeze the front lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

But the MoD said: “Based on the rate of Russia’s incremental battlefield advances so far in 2025, it would take Russian force

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