Trump heads to 'high stakes' Alaska summit with Putin on Ukraine

RNZ News

a day ago

By
Steve Holland
,
Andrew Osborn
and
Darya Korsunskaya
, Reuters
Donald Trump (L) and Vladimir Putin are due to meet for a summit on Ukraine.
Photo:
AFP
Donald Trump headed to Alaska for what he called a
"high stakes" summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin
to discuss a ceasefire deal for Ukraine to help end the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the talks, and his European allies fear Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising - if only informally - Russian control over one fifth of Ukraine.
Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swaps. "I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table," he said.
Both the United States and Russian presidents, due to meet at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska's largest city at around 11am Friday (7am Saturday in New Zealand), are seeking wins from their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House.
Trump is pressing for a truce in the 3-1/2-year-old war, which he describes as a "bloodbath", to bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For Putin, the summit is already a big win that he can portray as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.
Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the pre-summit mood as "combative" and said the two leaders would discuss not only Ukraine but the full spectrum of bilateral relations, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Trump, who once said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Thursday it had proven a tougher task than he had expected. He said that if Friday's talks went well, quickly arranging a second three-way summit with Zelensky would be even more important than his encounter with Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a three-way summit would be possible if the Alaska talks bore fruit, Interfax news agency reported. Peskov also said Friday's talks could last 6-7 hours and that aides would take part in what had been expected to be one-to-one meetings.
Zelensky said the summit should open the way for a "just peace" and three-way talks that included him but added that Russia was continuing to wage war on Friday (local time). A Russian ballistic missile earlier struck Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding another.
"It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America," Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not been invited to the talks.
Photo:
RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP
The Kremlin said Putin would arrive in Alaska at 11am (7am NZ) and would be met at his plane by Trump.
"He is a smart guy, been doing it for a long time but so have I ... We get along, there's a good respect level on both sides," Trump said of Putin. He also welcomed
Putin's decision to bring a lot of businesspeople
with him to Alaska.
"But they're not doing business until we get the war settled," he said, repeating a threat of "economically severe" consequences for Russia if the summit goes badly.
One source acquainted with Kremlin thinking said there were signs that Moscow could be ready to strike a compromise on Ukraine given that Putin understood Russia's economic vulnerability and costs of continuing the war.
Reuters has previously reported that Putin might be willing to freeze the conflict along the front lines, provided there was a legally binding pledge not to enlarge NATO eastwards and to lift some Western sanctions. NATO has said that Ukraine's future is in the alliance.
Russia, whose war economy is showing signs of strain, is vulnerable to further US sanctions - and Trump has threatened tariffs on buyers of Russian crude, primarily China and India.
"For Putin, economic problems are secondary to goals, but he understands our vulnerability and costs," the Russian source said.
Putin this week held out the prospect of something else he knows Trump wants - a new nuclear arms control accord to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire next February.
The source familiar with Kremlin thinking said it looked as if the two sides had been able to find some common ground.
"Apparently, some terms will be agreed upon... because Trump cannot be refused, and we are not in a position to refuse (due to sanctions pressure)," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity.
Putin has said he is open to a full ceasefire but that issues of verification must first be sorted out. One compromise could be a truce in the air war.
Zelensky has accused Putin of playing for time to avoid US secondary sanctions and has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory.
Ukraine has also said that it needs a security guarantee backed by the United States. It is unclear how that guarantee could work - and what part the US would play in it.
Ukrainians who spoke to Reuters in central Kyiv were not optimistic about the summit.
"Nothing good will happen there, because war is war, it will not end. The territories - we're not going to give anything to anyone," said Tetiana Harkavenko, a 65-year-old cleaner.
- Reuters