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Trump-Putin summit: What we know

Trump-Putin summit: What we know

The Citizena day ago
Ahead of the summit, Trump had threatened 'severe consequences' if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire.
Here are the outcomes of a summit meeting on Ukraine between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, based on statements from Saturday:
No ceasefire
Ukraine and European leaders had urged Trump to push for an immediate ceasefire, but this was not agreed to at the summit.
Trump said it was determined by all that the best way to end the 'horrific war… is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up'.
This stance appears to be a victory for Putin, whose army has made recent progress in eastern Ukraine and who has called for a peace deal that would address what he says are the 'root causes' of the conflict, notably the prospect of NATO membership for Ukraine.
According to Kyiv, Russian forces launched 85 drones and one missile at Ukraine overnight Friday to Saturday – including during the meeting – while Russia claimed to have taken two more villages in the east of Ukraine.
No 'severe consequences'
Ahead of the summit, Trump had threatened 'severe consequences' if Putin failed to agree to a ceasefire.
Trump could impose tariffs of up to 500 percent on any country that helps Russia's war effort as part of so-called 'secondary sanctions', according to Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham.
But when asked about this by Fox News after the talks, Trump said that, 'because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that now'.
European leaders, meanwhile, said they would keep pressuring Russia, including with further sanctions, until 'there is a just and lasting peace'.
Nothing on land concessions
Ukraine's biggest fear ahead of the Alaska summit was that the United States would push it to give up territories currently occupied by Russia, which comprise around 20 percent of its land, including Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Trump expressed support during a call with Zelensky and European leaders after the summit for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP.
Putin 'de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas,' an area consisting of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said.
In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control.
Security guarantees
Guarantees to secure any future peace deal were not mentioned in the Trump-Putin final declaration.
But Trump told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders that a NATO-style guarantee for Kyiv could be on the table, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and a diplomatic source said — but without actual NATO membership for Ukraine.
France, Britain and others said they could contribute troops as peace deal guarantors in Ukraine, but not on the frontline.
Possible three-way meeting
Trump said he would meet Zelensky in Washington on Monday, and said three-way talks between himself, Putin and Zelensky could be scheduled later.
He had said earlier that a deal to end the war depended on Zelensky alone.
But Zelensky said that Russia refusing to accept a ceasefire 'complicates the situation', and questioned its willingness to achieve a lasting peace.
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