Ukrainian FM says Kremlin must stop believing in ‘Spirit of Anchorage’ and engage in real peace talks

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has urged Moscow to abandon what he described as the mythical “Spirit of Anchorage” and respond to Ukraine’s proposals for direct negotiations to end the war.

In a social media post, Sybiha argued that any peace plan developed without Ukraine is “doomed to disappear” and warned that the longer Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to accept battlefield realities, the worse the situation will become for Russia.

“The reality makes one thing clear: if the “Spirit of Anchorage” even existed, it is certainly dead now. For Russia, the lesson of Anchorage is that any peace plan developed without Ukraine is doomed to become a spirit and disappear,” he wrote.

“Moscow should stop believing in spirits and instead respond to Ukraine’s serious proposals to sit down at the negotiating table and end the war. The longer Putin refuses to accept the reality that he will never achieve any goals on the battlefield, the worse things will get for Russia,” Sybiha added.

The term “Spirit of Anchorage” emerged after a reported August 2025 meeting in Anchorage between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow has claimed the talks produced a so-called “Anchorage formula,” under which the US allegedly supported Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas in exchange for freezing the front line in parts of southern Ukraine. Both US and Ukrainian officials have rejected the existence of any formal agreement.