Trump-Putin summit: What to expect as Zelenskyy rejects 'giving land to the occupier'

SBS Australia

3 days ago

There was no mention of Ukraine's participation in the meeting, despite multiple calls from Kyiv and Europe that the war-torn country must be part of the negotiations. This has sparked fury in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying his country "won't give land to the occupier" and that "any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace".
Trump has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace — after boasting he could end the war in 24 hours — but multiple rounds of peace talks, phone calls and diplomatic visits have failed to yield a breakthrough.
Here's what we know about the summit so far:
When and where On his Truth Social site on Saturday, Trump announced that his meeting with Putin would be held in the far-north US state of Alaska on 15 August, which was later confirmed by the Kremlin. The announcement came after days of both sides indicating the two leaders would hold a summit next week. The Kremlin confirmed the summit in Alaska, calling it "quite logical." "They would like to meet with me, I'll do whatever I can to stop the killing," Trump said on Friday, ahead of the announcement, speaking of both Putin and Zelenskyy.
At the White House on Saturday, Trump said "there'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details.
Why Alaska? The meeting will be held in Alaska, which Russia sold to the United States in 1867. The western tip of the state is not far — just across the Bering Strait — from the easternmost part of Russia. "Alaska and the Arctic are also where our countries' economic interests intersect, and there are prospects for large-scale, mutually beneficial projects," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in a statement on Telegram.
"But, of course, the presidents themselves will undoubtedly focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," he added.
Ushakov also expressed hope that next time the two presidents would meet on Russian territory. "A corresponding invitation has already been sent to the US president," he added. An International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin — which obliges members to detain the Russian leader if he visits their country — had been thought to narrow the potential number of venues.
Putin had previously mentioned the United Arab Emirates as a possible host for the talks, while media speculated Turkey, China or India could be probable venues.
Why is Ukraine not involved? Zelenskyy has been pushing to make it a three-way summit and has frequently said meeting Putin is the only way to make progress towards peace. In his address hours after Moscow and Washington confirmed the meeting, Zelenskyy called any decisions made without Ukraine "stillborn". Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff proposed a trilateral meeting when he held talks with Putin earlier this week, but the Russian leader has appeared to rule out meeting his Ukrainian counterpart. At talks in Istanbul in June, Russian negotiators said a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting could only take place at the "final phase" of negotiations, once the two sides had agreed on terms for peace. Asked if Putin had to meet Zelenskyy as a prerequisite for their summit, Trump said on Saturday: "No, he doesn't." National security advisors from Kyiv's allies — including the United States, EU nations and the UK — gathered in Britain Saturday to align their views ahead of the Putin-Trump summit.
French President Emmanuel Macron, following phone calls with Zelenskyy, Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said "the future of Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukrainians" and that Europe also had to be involved in the negotiations.
On Saturday, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy received US Vice President JD Vance, Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, top Zelenskyy aide Andriy Yermak and European national security advisors at Chevening House, a country mansion southeast of London, to discuss Trump's push for peace. On Saturday, Lammy posted on X: "The UK's support for Ukraine remains ironclad as we continue working towards a just and lasting peace."
In his evening address on Saturday, Zelenskyy stressed: "There must be an honest end to this war, and it is up to Russia to end the war it started."
When did they last meet?
Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January.
The last time Putin met a US president in the United States was during talks with Barack Obama at a UN General Assembly in 2015.
Negotiating positions Despite the flurry of diplomacy and multiple rounds of peace talks, Russia and Ukraine appear no closer to agreeing on an end to the fighting. Putin has rejected calls by the United States, Ukraine and Europe for an immediate ceasefire. At talks in June, Russia demanded Ukraine pull its forces out of four regions Moscow claims to have annexed, demanded Ukraine commit to being a neutral state, shun Western military support and be excluded from joining NATO. Kyiv wants an immediate ceasefire and has said it will never recognise Russian control over its sovereign territory -- though it acknowledged securing the return of land captured by Russia would have to come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield. Kyiv is also seeking security guarantees from Western backers, including the deployment of foreign troops as peacekeepers to enforce any ceasefire. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes. Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.