Trump, Putin hold high-stakes Ukraine talks in Alaska
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the talks and his European allies fear Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising — if only informally — Russian control over one fifth of Ukraine.
Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swaps. "I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table", he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: "I want to see a ceasefire rapidly... I'm not going to be happy if it's not today... I want the killing to stop".
The US and Russian presidents are due to meet at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska's largest city at around 11 am (19:00 GMT) for their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House.
Trump hopes a truce in the three-and-a-half-year-old war will bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For Putin, the summit is already a big win that he can portray as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.
Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the pre-summit mood as "combative" and said the two leaders would discuss not only Ukraine but the full spectrum of bilateral relations, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Trump said that if Friday's talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelensky would be even more important than his encounter with Putin. — Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
5 hours ago
- Observer
Trump drops Ukraine ceasefire demand
Washington - Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord -- a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough. Before the high-stakes meeting in Alaska, securing an immediate cessation of hostilities had been a core demand of Trump, who had threatened "severe consequences" against Russia, and European leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, who will now visit Washington on Monday. The shift away from the ceasefire would seem to favor Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal -- a strategy that Ukraine and its European allies have criticized as a way to buy time and press Russia's battlefield advances. Trump spoke with Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back to Washington, saying afterward that "it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement which would end the war." Ceasefire agreements "often do not hold up," Trump added on his Truth Social platform. This new development "complicates the situation," Zelensky said Saturday. If Moscow lacks "the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater -- -- peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades," he said on social media. - 'Harsh reality' - In the call, Trump expressed support 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. Several months into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia in September 2022 claimed to have annexed all four Ukrainian regions even though its troops still do not fully control any of them. "The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas," the source said. Trump notably also said the United States was prepared to provide Ukraine security guarantees, an assurance German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as "significant progress." But there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union's top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to "drag out negotiations" with no commitment to end the bloodshed. "The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon," Kallas said. - Zelensky back in the White House - The main diplomatic focus now switches to Zelensky's talks at the White House on Monday. An EU source told AFP that a number of European leaders had also been invited to attend. The Ukrainian president's last Oval Office visit in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid. Zelensky said Saturday after a "substantive" conversation with Trump about the Alaska summit that he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing "all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war." In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin. "It's really up to President Zelensky to get it done," Trump said. - European pressure - The leaders of France, Britain and Germany are due to host a video call on Sunday for their so-called "coalition of the willing" to discuss the way forward. In an earlier statement, they welcomed the plan for a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit but added that they would maintain pressure on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire. Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing Saturday that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night. Back in Moscow, Putin said his summit talks with Trump had been "timely" and "very useful." In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin had warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any "behind-the-scenes intrigues" that could disrupt what he called "this emerging progress."
Times of Oman
11 hours ago
- Times of Oman
"Peace through strength," US Secretary hails Trump-Putin meet
Washington DC: Sean Duffy, Secretary of the US Department of Transportation, praised President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, describing Trump as the best person to represent the United States on the world stage. In a post on X, he said, "There's no one better to represent us on the world stage than US President Donald Trump. Peace through strength. Thank you, Mr. President!" Earlier, Trump said on Saturday that the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska "went really well". He also held a telephonic conversation with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, several European leaders and the Secretary General of NATO and highlighted that it was determined by all that a peace agreement is the best way going forward. The US President said in a post on Truth Social, "A great and very successful day in Alaska! The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late-night phone call with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of NATO. It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine 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." He also shared that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will be coming to Washington DC on Monday and if things work out then a meeting would be scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin."President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin. Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Earlier on Friday, the United States and Russia held the much-anticipated truce talks meeting in Alaska to discuss bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine. Russia's top economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said the US received Russia "very well" in Alaska and that the two countries would continue building relations despite "resistance."
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Russia losing grip on the South Caucasus amid regional shifts
The writer is a former Azerbaijani secy of state, and leader of the country's united political opposition The peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, announced recently at the US White House, is perhaps the clearest sign yet that Russian President Vladimir Putin's heavy-handed interventions in the South Caucasus have loosened and in some cases eliminated, Russia's stranglehold over the region. Given Putin's zero-sum view of world affairs, this loss of influence may lead him to take an even harder line in the Ukraine-Russia peace talks that US President Donald Trump is trying to kick-start. America's role in facilitating the Armenia-Azerbaijan deal comes as a stunning surprise in the region. It was not so long ago that Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia all seemed to be returning to the Russian fold. But the Kremlin is not relinquishing control easily and assumes that the surest way to maintain influence among its neighbours is to have them at each other's throats and reliant on Russia as a mediator. In Armenia, where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sought to move towards integration with the European Union, the Kremlin is believed to have hatched a recent plot to install a pro-Russia puppet who would reignite the war with Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Putin and his circle seem to have believed that they had the wherewithal to affect the regime. The Armenian opposition is pro-Russian and revanchist towards Azerbaijan and Russia also has the means to strengthen the anti-Pashinyan camp through pro-Russian Armenian religious leaders and Armenian-origin Russian billionaires. But their attempt at subterfuge failed. The situation differed substantially in Azerbaijan, where it is the main opposition forces — the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA, which I lead) and its ally, the National Council — that advocate integration into the Euro-Atlantic theatre and reject cooperation with Russian authorities. The Kremlin, like the government, appears deeply afraid of the pro-Western opposition's growing strength and therefore likely supports the government's repressive tactics. Unlike Pashinyan, Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, opposes Euro-Atlantic integration and remains open to a continued alliance with the Kremlin, provided that it respects his personal interests and refrains from humiliating or undermining him domestically or internationally. So, even after the peace deal with Armenia, Russia probably will not try to topple Aliyev, but rather to pressure him into renewed subordination. Armenia and Azerbaijan have signed a peace deal at the White House that aims to end decades of armed conflict that killed tens of thousands Georgia presents another difficulty. The Kremlin is undoubtedly pleased with the current Georgian Dream government, given its repressive internal policies and anti-Western rhetoric. But since Russia has long occupied 20 per cent of Georgia's territory, the government must reckon with vehemently anti-Russian public opinion. Prior to the Armenia-Azerbaijan agreement, dealing definitively with Georgia was likely to be Putin's final act of revanchism in the South Caucasus. As long as Georgia's government remained under the thumb of Bidzina Ivanishvili, an oligarch who made his fortune in Russia, it could be counted on to cooperate. If the Kremlin could achieve unquestioned dominance over both Armenia and Azerbaijan, such a demonstration of regional hegemony would empower the Georgian government to present a stark choice to its citizens: submit to Russia or risk further occupation. But now that the Armenia/Azerbaijan domino has fallen, Putin will have to reassess his plans. There is strong evidence that the Kremlin had mobilised the leaders of the pro-Russian opposition in Armenia in the weeks before the deal with Azerbaijan was reached. This fifth column against Pashinyan — composed of pro-Kremlin religious figures and supported by the Armenian-born Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan — even called on Armenia's military to overthrow the government. But Pashinyan proved more decisive and vigilant than many (including the Kremlin) expected. Not only did he thwart the coup attempt, but anti-Russian sentiment in Armenia intensified, helping to push the deal with Azerbaijan forward. Meanwhile, the Kremlin had been pressuring Azerbaijanis within Russia with mass arrests, torture and deportations. The likely goal was to threaten Aliyev with heightened social unrest from a flood of repatriations. But these machinations also failed to yield the desired outcome. Azerbaijan responded by detaining Russian citizens in Baku and elsewhere; and public opinion shifted sharply against Russia. Kremlin strategists probably hoped that Aliyev's ideological affinity to Putin — both oppose democracy and Western influence — would facilitate an agreement. But Aliyev recognised that Putin was seeking a lever that he could pull at any time to weaken Aliyev's grip on power. Aliyev has no intention of sharing control of Azerbaijan, even with Putin. Consequently, agreeing to a US-brokered peace deal with Armenia and welcoming Washington's influence in the region, looked like a far safer bet compared to relying more on Putin. Still, given Azerbaijan's vast mineral and energy wealth, Russia is unlikely simply to accept these setbacks. It will look for new ways to apply pressure. Project Syndicate 2025
