According to the FT, which quotes “people familiar with the matter”, Putin made the proposal during a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg earlier this month.

The article comes as western and Ukrainian diplomats were expected to gather in London to discuss a potential settlement in the more than three-year conflict, with media speculation about what is on the table in the talks.

The Russian president indicated he would be willing to withdraw Moscow’s claims to parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – four regions it partially occupies – the FT reported.

In return, the US might accede to Russia’s other major demands, the financial daily added, including recognising its sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula that it annexed in 2014, and barring Ukraine from joining Nato.

The Kremlin appeared to deny the claims.

“A lot of fakes are being published at the moment, including by respected publications, so you should only listen to primary sources,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency RIA Novosti.

Kyiv and its European allies have demanded a complete restoration of Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders, a position that US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has described as “unrealistic”.