Russia presses in eastern Ukraine, as fears loom in Europe over Trump-Putin meeting
In one of the most extensive incursions so far this year, Russian troops advanced near the coal-mining town of Dobropillia, part of Putin's campaign to take full control of Ukraine's Donetsk region. Ukraine's military dispatched reserve troops, saying they were in difficult combat against Russian soldiers.
Trump has said any peace deal would involve "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" Russia and Ukraine, which has up to now depended on the United States as its main arms supplier. But because all of the areas being contested lie within Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European Union allies fear he'll face pressure to give up far more than Russia does.
Trump's administration tempered expectations on Tuesday for major progress toward a ceasefire, calling his pending Friday meeting with Putin in Alaska a "listening exercise."
Zelenskyy and most of his European counterparts have said a lasting peace cannot be secured without Ukraine at the negotiating table and that a deal must comply with international law, Ukraine's sovereignty and its territorial integrity. They will hold a virtual meeting with Trump on Wednesday to underscore those concerns.
"An imitated rather than genuine peace will not hold for long and will only encourage Russia to seize even more territory," Zelenskyy said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian leader said Russia must agree to a ceasefire before territorial issues are discussed. He would reject any Russian proposal that Ukraine pull its troops from the eastern Donbas region and cede its defensive lines.
Trump seeks 'better understanding'
Asked why Zelenskyy wasn't joining the Alaska summit, a White House spokesperson said Tuesday that the bilateral meeting had been proposed by Putin and that Trump accepted to get a "better understanding" of how to end the war.
"Only one party that's involved in this war is going to be present, and so this is for the president to go and to get a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. "You need both countries to agree to a deal."
Trump is open to a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy later, Leavitt said.
WATCH | Trump, Putin to meet in Alaska:
Trump, Putin set to meet in Alaska for further ceasefire negotiations | Hanomansing Tonight
4 days ago
Ukraine faces a shortage of soldiers after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, easing the path for the latest Russian advances.
Ukraine's military, meanwhile, said it had retaken two villages in the eastern region of Sumy on Monday, part of a small reversal in more than a year of slow, attritional Russian gains in the southeast. Russia has mounted a new offensive this year in Sumy after Putin demanded a "buffer zone" there.
Ukraine and its European allies fear that Trump, keen to claim credit for making peace and seal new business deals with Russia's government, will end up rewarding Putin for his years spent in efforts to seize Ukrainian territory.
European leaders have said Ukraine must be capable of defending itself if peace and security are to be guaranteed on the continent and that they are ready to contribute further.
"Ukraine cannot lose this war, and nobody has the right to pressure Ukraine into making territorial or other concessions, or making decisions that smack of capitulation," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a government meeting.
"I hope we can convince President Trump about the European position."
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