Trump confirms he will meet Putin ‘very shortly', but without Zelensky
Trump said the location for the meeting would be announced later on Friday (Saturday AEST). It will be the first time Putin has met a sitting US president since he launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The confirmation comes after days of speculation about a meeting between the two leaders, and confusion over whether there were preconditions for the summit to take place, such as the involvement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or a separate meeting between him and Putin.
Friday also marked Trump's own deadline for Putin to agree to a ceasefire and peace deal or face additional US sanctions and secondary sanctions aimed at Russian trading partners. So far, Trump has announced an extra 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports to the US as punishment for India buying Russian oil, to begin on August 27.
As the deadline loomed, Putin pushed for a meeting with Trump, and the Kremlin announced there would be a summit 'within days' – without confirmation from Washington, which had pushed for a trilateral meeting with Zelensky.
But Trump indicated on Friday it would be a bilateral meeting. 'We're going to have a meeting with Russia, we'll start off with Russia,' he said. 'We'll announce a location ... I'll be meeting very shortly with President Putin.'
Asked if it was the last chance for the Russian president to agree to a ceasefire and peace deal, Trump said: 'I don't like using the term 'last chance'.'
He indicated the deal under consideration involved the exchange of territory currently occupied by opposing military forces, but did not go into detail.
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The Advertiser
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Ukraine rejects land forfeit ahead of Trump-Putin talks
Ukraine will not cede its land, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has insisted, rejecting US suggestions that a deal with Russia could involve swapping territories as Washington and Moscow prepared for talks between their leaders on ending the war. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict. Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both". It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory - an outcome Kyiv and its European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression. "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier," Zelenskiy said in a video address, adding that Ukraine's borders were fixed in the country's constitution. "No one will deviate from this." US Vice President JD Vance will meet Ukrainian and European allies in Britain on Saturday to discuss Trump's push for peace, Downing Street said, adding that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had spoken about it with Zelenskiy. "They agreed this would be a vital forum to discuss progress towards securing a just and lasting peace," the Downing Street spokesperson added. Zelenskiy has made a flurry of calls with Ukraine's allies since Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow on Wednesday, which Trump described as having achieved "great progress". "Clear steps are needed, as well as maximum coordination between us and our partners," Zelenskiy said in a post on X after his call with Starmer. "We value the determination of the United Kingdom, the United States, and all our partners to end the war." Ukraine and the European Union have pushed back on proposals that they view as ceding too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, citing what Moscow called threats to Russia's security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has previously claimed four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions. Russia is demanding that Ukraine pull out its troops from the parts of all four of them that it still controls. Ukraine says its troops still have a small foothold in Russia's Kursk region, a year after its troops crossed the border to try to gain leverage in any negotiations. Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk in April. Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, described the current peace push as "the first more or less realistic attempt to stop the war". "At the same time, I remain extremely sceptical about the implementation of the agreements, even if a truce is reached for a while. And there is virtually no doubt that the new commitments could be devastating for Ukraine," she said. Fierce fighting is raging along the more than 1000-kilometre front line along eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold around a fifth of the country's territory. Russian troops are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east, but their summer offensive has so far failed to achieve a major breakthrough, Ukrainian military analysts say. "Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories," Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters as she gestured to hundreds of small Ukrainian flags in the Kyiv central square commemorating fallen soldiers. Ukraine will not cede its land, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has insisted, rejecting US suggestions that a deal with Russia could involve swapping territories as Washington and Moscow prepared for talks between their leaders on ending the war. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict. Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both". It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory - an outcome Kyiv and its European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression. "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier," Zelenskiy said in a video address, adding that Ukraine's borders were fixed in the country's constitution. "No one will deviate from this." US Vice President JD Vance will meet Ukrainian and European allies in Britain on Saturday to discuss Trump's push for peace, Downing Street said, adding that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had spoken about it with Zelenskiy. "They agreed this would be a vital forum to discuss progress towards securing a just and lasting peace," the Downing Street spokesperson added. Zelenskiy has made a flurry of calls with Ukraine's allies since Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow on Wednesday, which Trump described as having achieved "great progress". "Clear steps are needed, as well as maximum coordination between us and our partners," Zelenskiy said in a post on X after his call with Starmer. "We value the determination of the United Kingdom, the United States, and all our partners to end the war." Ukraine and the European Union have pushed back on proposals that they view as ceding too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, citing what Moscow called threats to Russia's security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has previously claimed four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions. Russia is demanding that Ukraine pull out its troops from the parts of all four of them that it still controls. Ukraine says its troops still have a small foothold in Russia's Kursk region, a year after its troops crossed the border to try to gain leverage in any negotiations. Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk in April. Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, described the current peace push as "the first more or less realistic attempt to stop the war". "At the same time, I remain extremely sceptical about the implementation of the agreements, even if a truce is reached for a while. And there is virtually no doubt that the new commitments could be devastating for Ukraine," she said. Fierce fighting is raging along the more than 1000-kilometre front line along eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold around a fifth of the country's territory. Russian troops are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east, but their summer offensive has so far failed to achieve a major breakthrough, Ukrainian military analysts say. "Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories," Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters as she gestured to hundreds of small Ukrainian flags in the Kyiv central square commemorating fallen soldiers. Ukraine will not cede its land, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has insisted, rejecting US suggestions that a deal with Russia could involve swapping territories as Washington and Moscow prepared for talks between their leaders on ending the war. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict. Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both". It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory - an outcome Kyiv and its European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression. "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier," Zelenskiy said in a video address, adding that Ukraine's borders were fixed in the country's constitution. "No one will deviate from this." US Vice President JD Vance will meet Ukrainian and European allies in Britain on Saturday to discuss Trump's push for peace, Downing Street said, adding that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had spoken about it with Zelenskiy. "They agreed this would be a vital forum to discuss progress towards securing a just and lasting peace," the Downing Street spokesperson added. Zelenskiy has made a flurry of calls with Ukraine's allies since Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow on Wednesday, which Trump described as having achieved "great progress". "Clear steps are needed, as well as maximum coordination between us and our partners," Zelenskiy said in a post on X after his call with Starmer. "We value the determination of the United Kingdom, the United States, and all our partners to end the war." Ukraine and the European Union have pushed back on proposals that they view as ceding too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, citing what Moscow called threats to Russia's security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has previously claimed four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions. Russia is demanding that Ukraine pull out its troops from the parts of all four of them that it still controls. Ukraine says its troops still have a small foothold in Russia's Kursk region, a year after its troops crossed the border to try to gain leverage in any negotiations. Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk in April. Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, described the current peace push as "the first more or less realistic attempt to stop the war". "At the same time, I remain extremely sceptical about the implementation of the agreements, even if a truce is reached for a while. And there is virtually no doubt that the new commitments could be devastating for Ukraine," she said. Fierce fighting is raging along the more than 1000-kilometre front line along eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold around a fifth of the country's territory. Russian troops are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east, but their summer offensive has so far failed to achieve a major breakthrough, Ukrainian military analysts say. "Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories," Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters as she gestured to hundreds of small Ukrainian flags in the Kyiv central square commemorating fallen soldiers. Ukraine will not cede its land, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has insisted, rejecting US suggestions that a deal with Russia could involve swapping territories as Washington and Moscow prepared for talks between their leaders on ending the war. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict. Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both". It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory - an outcome Kyiv and its European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression. "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier," Zelenskiy said in a video address, adding that Ukraine's borders were fixed in the country's constitution. "No one will deviate from this." US Vice President JD Vance will meet Ukrainian and European allies in Britain on Saturday to discuss Trump's push for peace, Downing Street said, adding that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had spoken about it with Zelenskiy. "They agreed this would be a vital forum to discuss progress towards securing a just and lasting peace," the Downing Street spokesperson added. Zelenskiy has made a flurry of calls with Ukraine's allies since Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow on Wednesday, which Trump described as having achieved "great progress". "Clear steps are needed, as well as maximum coordination between us and our partners," Zelenskiy said in a post on X after his call with Starmer. "We value the determination of the United Kingdom, the United States, and all our partners to end the war." Ukraine and the European Union have pushed back on proposals that they view as ceding too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, citing what Moscow called threats to Russia's security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has previously claimed four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions. Russia is demanding that Ukraine pull out its troops from the parts of all four of them that it still controls. Ukraine says its troops still have a small foothold in Russia's Kursk region, a year after its troops crossed the border to try to gain leverage in any negotiations. Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk in April. Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, described the current peace push as "the first more or less realistic attempt to stop the war". "At the same time, I remain extremely sceptical about the implementation of the agreements, even if a truce is reached for a while. And there is virtually no doubt that the new commitments could be devastating for Ukraine," she said. Fierce fighting is raging along the more than 1000-kilometre front line along eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold around a fifth of the country's territory. Russian troops are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east, but their summer offensive has so far failed to achieve a major breakthrough, Ukrainian military analysts say. "Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories," Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters as she gestured to hundreds of small Ukrainian flags in the Kyiv central square commemorating fallen soldiers.
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Ukraine rejects land forfeit ahead of Trump-Putin talks
Ukraine will not cede its land, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has insisted, rejecting US suggestions that a deal with Russia could involve swapping territories as Washington and Moscow prepared for talks between their leaders on ending the war. US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he would meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska on August 15, saying the parties, including Zelenskiy, were close to a deal that could resolve the three-and-a-half-year conflict. Details of the potential deal have yet to be announced, but Trump said it would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both". It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory - an outcome Kyiv and its European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression. "Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier," Zelenskiy said in a video address, adding that Ukraine's borders were fixed in the country's constitution. "No one will deviate from this." US Vice President JD Vance will meet Ukrainian and European allies in Britain on Saturday to discuss Trump's push for peace, Downing Street said, adding that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had spoken about it with Zelenskiy. "They agreed this would be a vital forum to discuss progress towards securing a just and lasting peace," the Downing Street spokesperson added. Zelenskiy has made a flurry of calls with Ukraine's allies since Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to Moscow on Wednesday, which Trump described as having achieved "great progress". "Clear steps are needed, as well as maximum coordination between us and our partners," Zelenskiy said in a post on X after his call with Starmer. "We value the determination of the United Kingdom, the United States, and all our partners to end the war." Ukraine and the European Union have pushed back on proposals that they view as ceding too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022, citing what Moscow called threats to Russia's security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has previously claimed four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions. Russia is demanding that Ukraine pull out its troops from the parts of all four of them that it still controls. Ukraine says its troops still have a small foothold in Russia's Kursk region, a year after its troops crossed the border to try to gain leverage in any negotiations. Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk in April. Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Centre, described the current peace push as "the first more or less realistic attempt to stop the war". "At the same time, I remain extremely sceptical about the implementation of the agreements, even if a truce is reached for a while. And there is virtually no doubt that the new commitments could be devastating for Ukraine," she said. Fierce fighting is raging along the more than 1000-kilometre front line along eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold around a fifth of the country's territory. Russian troops are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east, but their summer offensive has so far failed to achieve a major breakthrough, Ukrainian military analysts say. "Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories," Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters as she gestured to hundreds of small Ukrainian flags in the Kyiv central square commemorating fallen soldiers.
West Australian
6 hours ago
- West Australian
India claims it shot down six Pakistani military planes
India claims it shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during clashes in May, the first such statement by the nation months after the worst military conflict in decades with its neighbour. Most of the Pakistani aircraft were downed by India's Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system, Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh said at an event in the southern city of Bengaluru on Saturday. He cited electronic tracking data as confirmation of the strikes. "We have at least five fighters confirmed killed, and one large aircraft," he said, adding the large aircraft, which could be a surveillance plane, was shot down at a distance of 300 km. "This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill," he said, prompting applause from the crowd that included serving air force officers, veterans, and government and industry officials. Pakistan's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Singh did not mention the type of fighter jets that were downed, but said that airstrikes also hit an additional surveillance plane and "a few F16" fighters that were parked in hangars at two air bases in southeastern Pakistan. Islamabad, whose air force primarily operates Chinese-made jets and US F-16s, has previously denied India downed any Pakistani aircraft during the May 7-10 fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours. Pakistan has claimed it shot down six Indian aircraft during the clashes, including a French-made Rafale fighter. India has acknowledged some losses but denied losing six aircraft. France's air chief, General Jerome Bellanger, has previously said he has seen evidence of the loss of three Indian fighters, including a Rafale. The Indian Air Force has not commented on the claims.
