U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. The announcement comes after Trump suggested a potential peace deal could involve a "swapping of territories."
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected any such proposal, stating on Saturday that "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupiers." He also emphasized that any decisions made without Ukraine's involvement would be "stillborn decisions."
Key Points
Summit Confirmed: The Kremlin confirmed the meeting, with a Putin aide, Yuri Ushakov, saying the two leaders would "focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian crisis."
Territorial Conflict: Putin claims four Ukrainian regions—Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson—as well as the Crimea peninsula. While his forces do not fully control these regions, Ukraine has consistently refused to cede any territory.
Political Fallout: A peace deal involving the loss of a fifth of Ukraine's territory would be politically challenging for Zelenskiy. Tyson Barker, a former U.S. State Department official, said such a proposal would be "immediately rejected by the Ukrainians."
Previous Tensions: The last high-stakes diplomatic meeting in Alaska was in March 2021 between senior U.S. and Chinese officials, which quickly devolved into a public clash.
Potential Sanctions: After showing increasing frustration with Putin, Trump had threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia unless the war ended. The administration already imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods over that country's imports of Russian oil.
European Support: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a close ally of Ukraine, expressed cautious optimism that a "freeze in the conflict" may be approaching, and noted that Ukraine wants Poland and other European nations to be involved in peace planning.
The upcoming summit marks Trump's latest effort to mend relations with Russia and end the three-and-a-half-year conflict, which is the deadliest in Europe since World War Two. The story is from the Reuters.
