Trump Confirms Zelensky Will Not Attend Alaska Talks With Putin On Ukraine Ceasefire
Last Updated: August 11, 2025, 22:39 IST
Under Trump, America risks collapsing from the inside out, writes the author. (Reuters File)
Donald Trump has confirmed that Volodymyr Zelensky will not be present at his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska later this week.
The two leaders will hold talks on Friday aimed at exploring the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
This follows statements from European leaders, including Keir Starmer, who stressed that the path to peace for Kyiv 'cannot be decided without Ukraine," and that the current line of contact between Russia and Ukraine should serve only as 'the starting point of negotiations."
Ahead of the summit, the US President suggested a peace deal could include 'some swapping of territories", with reports suggesting this could involve Ukraine giving up its Donetsk region – a claim Zelenskyy strongly denied, LBC News reported.
'Of course, we will not give Russia awards for what it has done. The Ukrainian people deserve peace," the Ukrainian leader said.
'The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will deviate from this, and no one will be able to. Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier. Ukraine is ready for real decisions that can bring peace. Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not achieve anything. These are stillborn decisions. They are unworkable decisions," he added.
When asked if Sir Keir Starmer believes the Russian President can be trusted in negotiations, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said the UK supports Kyiv and the US President's efforts for peace, but not Moscow.
'Never trust President Putin as far as you could throw him, but we obviously will support Ukraine. We will obviously support President Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations."But it is exactly why we've been leading this work on the coalition of the willing, because any ceasefire, as I say, cannot just be an opportunity for President Putin to go away, re-arm, restrengthen, and then go again. So we're not going to leave it to trust. We're going to ensure that we're prepared such that we achieve a ceasefire," he said on Monday.
Swipe Left For Next Video View all
In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the leaders of Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland, and the European Commission affirmed that Ukraine has the sovereign right to determine its own future, adding that meaningful negotiations can only occur under a ceasefire or a reduction in hostilities.
'The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force." view comments News world Trump Confirms Zelensky Will Not Attend Alaska Talks With Putin On Ukraine Ceasefire Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Read More
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
13 minutes ago
- Mint
Bulls ride high on India stocks, expecting success of US-Russia talks on Ukraine
Bulls appeared to be taking charge of the stock markets on Wednesday, ahead of the Trump-Putin talks, where a breakthrough or an impasse could significantly impact Indian equities. The two leaders are slated to meet in Alaska on Friday in a bid to end the over-three year Ukraine war. A day after foreign portfolio investors trimmed their index future longs to 7.95%, only 20 basis points shy of the record low of 7.75% on 22 March 2023, in light of the US Fed rate tightening cycle, bulls sold huge quantities of put options between the 24,500 and 24,600 levels, expecting a rally in the markets ahead of the talks. The contracts expire tomorrow. The Nifty 50 traded 0.6% higher at 24,634 at 1 pm. Amid likely domestic institutional investor buying in the cash market, bulls sold a massive number of puts at 24,600 – the open position at this strike rose by a whopping 227,758 contracts to a total 284,785 contracts. At 24,550, the open or outstanding positions jumped 148,077 contracts to 193,635 contracts and at 24,500 by 152,528 contracts to 260,034 contracts. The jump in open positions at these levels indicates that bulls expect the markets to close at or above 24,600, which will enable them to pocket the premium paid by the put buyers, who expect the markets to correct. "The correction premise (of put buyers) is based on the talks stalling and a continuation of the war, which could impact countries like India that buy Russian oil and have been slapped with a proposed punitive tariff of 25% from 27 August," explained SK Joshi, a consultant with Khambatta Securities. Other analysts cautioned that it was too early to take such calls because the Indian markets would react to the outcome of the talks only on Monday, with Friday a holiday for Independence Day. "The market is likely to consolidate in a 24,400-24,700 range ahead of the Russia-US talks in Alaska," said Sahaj Agrawal, head of derivatives research at Kotak Securities. "The reaction to the outcome will be on Monday." Options data and sentiment for now also suggest a sideways movement, with no major horizon shift on the cards, he added. The put-call ratio of the weekly options expiring on Thursday stood at 0.99 intraday, which means that for every 100 calls sold, traders had sold 99 puts. On Tuesday, the ratio stood at 0.65, or only 65 puts sold for 100 calls sold. Time correction The benchmark Nifty 50 has been in a time correction for 11 months now, which is longer than the nine-month time correction that followed the outbreak of the covid pandemic in 2020. Time correction implies an extended period of stagnant to marginally lower price movement. The Nifty has fallen 6.25% from a record high of 26,277.35 on 27 September last year to Wednesday's intraday level of 24,634. While the Nasdaq, the UK's FTSE and Japan's Nikkei trade at record highs, Indian stock indices haven't been able to reclaim their previous high even 11 months later. In the last major down-cycle, the Nifty fell 40% from a high of 12,430 on 20 January 2020 to 7,511.10 on 24 March that year when the pandemic surfaced. However, it reclaimed the high in nine months, closing at 12,632 by 9 November. The current time correction is due to tepid earnings growth and more lately because of Trump's crushing tariffs on India, which Moody's expects could trim its current fiscal growth estimate by 30 bps to 6%. "We have been in a time correction for nearly 11 months now and will have to see how the geopolitical events play out to reckon whether we will break through the 26,277.35 record high of last September or test the multi-month low of 21,743.65 of this April," Kotak Securities' Agrawal added.
Hindustan Times
13 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump to host Zelensky, European leaders ahead of summit with Putin
Europe and Ukraine's leaders will speak to U.S. President Donald Trump at a virtual meeting on Wednesday ahead of his summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin, as they try to drive home the perils of selling out Kyiv's interests in pursuit of a ceasefire. Ukraine hopes the meeting will serve - at least partially - as a European counterweight to the summit in Alaska.(AFP File Photo) Trump hosts Putin, a pariah in the West since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, at talks in Alaska on Friday that the U.S. president has said will serve as a "feel-out" meeting in his efforts to end the Russo-Ukraine war. Trump agreed last week to the first U.S.-Russia summit since 2021, abruptly shifting course after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the U.S. peace initiative. Trump said his envoy had made "great progress" at talks in Moscow. The U.S. president says both Kyiv and Moscow will have to cede land to end the war. Russian troops have already occupied almost a fifth of Ukraine. The unpredictability of how the summit will play out has fuelled European fears that the U.S. and Russian leaders could take far-reaching decisions and even seek to coerce Ukraine into an unfavourable deal. "We are focusing now to ensure that it does not happen - engaging with U.S. partners and staying coordinated and united on the European side. Still a lot of time until Friday," said one senior official from eastern Europe. Trump's administration tempered expectations on Tuesday for major progress toward a ceasefire, calling his meeting with Putin in Alaska a "listening exercise." The video conference among Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the leaders of Germany, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and the European Union is expected to take place at 1300 GMT (1500 CET), a German government spokesperson said. NATO's secretary general will also attend the conference hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Ukraine hopes the meeting will serve - at least partially - as a European counterweight to the summit in Alaska. European leaders, who are wary of provoking Trump's ire, have repeatedly emphasised that they welcome his peace efforts, while underlining that there should be no deal about Ukraine without Ukraine's participation. Half a dozen senior European officials told Reuters that they see a risk of a deal being struck that is unfavourable for Europe and Ukraine's security. They said European unity would be vital if that happened. A source familiar with internal U.S. deliberations said it could not be ruled out that Trump would seek a deal directly with Putin without involving Ukraine or Europe. But the source voiced doubt about that, saying it could cause problems with Kyiv and the EU. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday the summit will be a "listening exercise" for Trump to hear what it will take to get to a deal. After the call, Trump and Vice President JD Vance were expected to speak to European leaders at a separate online meeting at 1300 GMT (1500 CET), the German spokesperson said. That will be followed at 1430 GMT by an online meeting of the "coalition of the willing", a group of countries working on plans to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. Mounting battlefield pressure A Gallup poll released last week found that 69% of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also show Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions. Ahead of the calls, Zelenskiy said it would be impossible for Kyiv to agree to a deal that would require it to withdraw its troops from the eastern Donbas region, a large swathe of which is already occupied by Russia. That, he told reporters on Tuesday, would deprive Ukraine of a vast defensive network in the region, easing the way for Russia to mount a new push deeper into Ukraine in the future. Territorial issues, he added, could only be discussed once a ceasefire has been put in place and Ukraine has received security guarantees. Moscow's troops have recently ramped up pressure on the battlefield, tightening their stranglehold on the cities of Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine.
Hindustan Times
13 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
New Zealand mulls Palestinian recognition as PM Luxon says Netanyahu has 'lost the plot'
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu has "lost the plot" as the war in Gaza rages on. The New Zealand leader's statement on Wednesday comes as more allies, including its neighbour Australia, have moved to recognise statehood for Palestine. Condemning the ongoing humanitarian suffering in Gaza as "utterly, utterly appalling," Luxon further claimed that Israel has "gone way too far."(REUTERS) Speaking to reporters, Luxon said Netanyahu was no longer listening to the international community. Condemning the ongoing humanitarian suffering in Gaza as "utterly, utterly appalling," Luxon further said that Israel has 'gone way too far'. This is PM Luxon's strongest condemnation yet against Netanyahu and Israel's ongoing war on Gaza. 'I think Netanyahu has gone way too far, I think he has lost the plot and I think what we are seeing overnight, with the attack on Gaza City is utterly, utterly unacceptable," Luxon said. Also Read | Netanyahu 'in denial' about human suffering in Gaza, says Australia PM Albanese New Zealand's close ally Australia announced earlier this week that it will recognise the state of Palestine during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September. With this, Australia joins France, the UK and Canada to recognise statehood for Palestine. New Zealand weighs its options: 'Have supported two-state solution' In a statement issued by foreign minister Winston Peters, the government said it will 'carefully weigh up its position'. 'New Zealand, as a long-standing supporter of the two-state solution and Palestinian self-determination, is an active participant in discussions about how to broker a ceasefire and a political settlement to enable Israelis and Palestinians to live peacefully side-by-side. While we are a long way away from the Middle East, we will continue to ensure our voice is heard," said Peters. The foreign minister has further added that the cabinet will make a formal decision in September. 'It is only right that this complicated issue be approached calmly, cautiously and judiciously. Over the next month, we look forward to canvassing this broad range of views before taking a proposal to Cabinet," Peters added further. Opposition MP ejected after calls for sanctions on Israel Meanwhile, opposition leader and co-leader of the left-leaning Green Party, Chloe Swarbrick, was asked to leave the NZ parliament on Wednesday as he made strong statements against Israel's actions. During a heated debate, Swarbrick called on government lawmakers to endorse her proposal to impose sanctions on Israel for its alleged war crimes in Gaza. 'If we find six of 68 government MPs with a spine, we can stand on the right side of history,' said Swarbrick. Her remarks were deemed as "completely unacceptable" by the speaker, Gerry Brownlee, who then asked her to leave the parliament for the rest of the week, which Swarbrick said she would do 'happily'.
