Russia on Monday evening claimed to have captured the entirety of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, marking the first time since its illegal invasion began three years ago that it may fully occupy an entire region. 

Fox News Digital could not independently verify the claim made by Leonid Pasechnik, the Moscow-appointed leader of Luhansk, which Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed in 2022 along with the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Kyiv has not yet commented on Pasechnik’s claims issued Monday evening when speaking with Russian state TV outlet Channel One, in which he said “literally two days ago” he had received a report that “100%” of the region was now fully occupied, first reported the Associated Press. 

Ukrainian infantry man forward positions in the forest on Nov. 10, 2024, in Serebryansky Reserve, located about 8 kilometers southwest of Kreminna in the Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

U.S.-led attempts to broker a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire appear to have stalled, and little communication has been reported between Washington and Moscow following Trump’s previous call with Putin in mid-June. 

Trump maintains that Putin is looking for a way to end the war, and told reporters during a NATO news conference last week, “I know one thing – he’d like to settle.”

“He’d like to get out of this thing. It’s a mess for him,” he added. 

But NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who has managed to establish a positive relationship with the U.S. president despite Trump’s previous criticism of the alliance, has warned that he estimates Putin has ambitions beyond Ukraine and could attack other parts of Europe within three to five years. 

President Donald Trump speaks with Secretary-General Mark Rutte as he arrives for a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. (Piroschka Van De Wouw, Pool Photo via AP)

Trump gave Putin a two-week deadline in May to show he was serious about ending the war, or whether he is “tapping [the U.S.] along.”

But the deadline has long passed, and the president has not made clear what his next steps will be. 

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s questions on what the president plans to do next when it comes to U.S. attempts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, or when Trump plans to next speak with Putin.