VLADIMIR Putin is ready to discuss a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Donald Trump, sources claim. But the Russian tyrant is understood to have a list of heavy demands - including Kyiv abandoning its plan to join Nato. 5 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in 2018 Credit: AFP 5 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pictured yesterday Credit: Alamy 5 Trump will take over as US president in January and has promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking charge.

And insiders say Putin is open to discussing a peace deal. Bullish Vlad is already dictating hardline terms for any deal brokered by Trump, sources say. The Kremlin could agree to freeze conflict along frontlines - but will refuse to surrender any significant territory, five current and former Russian officials told Reuters .

More on Ukraine FIRE & FURY US embassy in Kyiv evacuated before 'huge Russian strike' as Kremlin warns West KILL OR BE KILLED Watch as Ukraine troops training in UK are told 'kill without hesitation' Vlad's forces are continuing to gain ground and Russia claims to have grabbed more eastern territory in recent days. Sources say there could be room for negotiation over the precise carve-up of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Moscow claims the four eastern regions are wholly part of Russia - but open-source data shows up to 30 per cent is still held by Ukrainian defenders.

Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War said: "The manner in which the Kremlin is trying to set i.