Ukraine needs real and lasting peace, not pause between Russian invasions, Zelensky says
'Security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term, with the involvement of both Europe and the US,' he said on X following his call with the European leaders.
Zelenskiy stressed that territorial issues can only be decided with Ukraine. — Reuters
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New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Putin wins Ukraine concessions but doesn't get all he wants
IN a few short hours in Alaska, Vladimir Putin managed to convince Donald Trump that a Ukraine ceasefire was not the way to go, stave off US sanctions, and spectacularly shatter years of Western attempts to isolate the Russian president. Outside Russia, Putin was widely hailed as the victor of the Alaska summit while at home, Russian state media cast the United States president as a prudent statesman, even as critics in the West accused him of being out of his depth. Russian state media made much of the fact that Putin was afforded a military fly-over, that Trump waited for him on the red carpet, and then let the Russian president ride with him in the back of the "Big Beast", the US presidential limousine. But Putin's biggest summit wins related to the war in Ukraine, where he appears to have persuaded Trump, at least in part, to embrace Russia's vision of how a deal should be done. Trump had gone into the meeting saying he wanted a quick ceasefire and had threatened Putin and Russia's biggest buyer of its crude oil — China — with sanctions. Afterwards, Trump said he had agreed with Putin that negotiators should go straight to a peace settlement and not through a ceasefire as Ukraine and its European allies had been demanding — previously with US support. "The US president's position has changed after talks with Putin, and now the discussion will focus not on a truce, but on the end of the war. And a new world order. Just as Moscow wanted," Olga Skabeyeva, one of Russian state TV's most prominent talk show hosts, said on Telegram. The fact that the summit even took place was a win for Putin before it even started, given how it brought him in from the diplomatic cold with such pomp. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president and a close Putin ally, said the summit had achieved a major breakthrough when it came to restoring US-Russia relations, which Putin had lamented were at their lowest level since the Cold War. "The mechanism for high-level meetings between Russia and the United States has been restored in its entirety," he said. But Putin did not get everything he wanted and it's unclear how durable his gains will be. For one, Trump did not hand him the economic reset he wanted — something that would boost the Russian president at a time when his economy is showing signs of strain after more than three years of war and increasingly tough Western sanctions. Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy aide, said before the summit the talks would touch on trade and economic issues. Putin had brought his finance minister and the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund all the way to Alaska with a view to discussing potential deals on the Arctic, energy, space and the technology sector. In the end, though, they didn't get a look in. Trump told reporters on Air Force One before the summit started there would be no business done until the war in Ukraine was settled. It's also unclear how long the sanctions reprieve that Putin won will last. Trump said it would probably be two or three weeks before he would need to return to the question of thinking about imposing secondary sanctions on China, to hurt financing for Moscow's war machine. Nor did Trump — judging by information that has so far been made public — do what some Ukrainian and European politicians had feared the most and sell Kyiv out by doing a deal over the head of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy. Trump made clear that it was up to Zelenskyy as to whether he would agree — or not — with ideas of land swaps and other elements for a peace settlement that the US president had discussed with Putin in Alaska. While deliberations continue, Russian forces are slowly but steadily advancing on the battlefield. According to the New York Times, Trump told European leaders that Ukrainian recognition of Donbas as Russian would help get a deal done. And the US is ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. "For Putin, economic problems are secondary to his goals, but he understands our vulnerability and the costs involved," said one source familiar with Kremlin thinking. "It will be Trump's job to pressure Ukraine to recognise the agreements."
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
The Putin-Trump summit can impact crises in other regions, says expert
MOSCOW (Bernama-RIA Novosti): The outcome of the Russian-US talks in Alaska could influence not only the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis but also conflict dynamics in other regions, including the Middle East, Lebanese expert on Russian affairs Ahmed Al-Haj Ali told RIA Novosti. "The agreements reached may eventually be reflected in other crisis areas in the future, though not immediately, but gradually - including in the Middle East," Al-Haj Ali said. Closer alignment between Moscow and Washington could have a positive effect on the resumption of Iranian-US negotiations, he added. "Any diplomatic and political success of Russia reduces pressure on the state, allowing it to strengthen its influence in the Middle East and other important regions. This opens up space for a certain stabilisation of the balance of power at the regional and international levels," the expert said. At the same time, fundamental differences remain between Russia and the United States and require greater rapprochement, he said. "This meeting helped in many ways to split the iceberg of destroyed Russian-US relations, which had sunk to a Cold War level. It demonstrated the willingness of both leaders to pursue shared interests," Al-Haj Ali said. On Friday, Putin and Trump met in Anchorage, Alaska for a three-on-three format talks that lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. In addition to the presidents, Russia was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and presidential aide Yury Ushakov, and the United States by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. -- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Zelenskiy says current front lines should be the start for negotiations
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy walks to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street, in London, Britain, August 14, 2025. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in Brussels on Sunday, said the current front lines in his country's war against Russia should be the basis for peace talks. "We need real negotiations, which means we can start where the front line is now," Zelenskiy said, adding that European leaders supported this. Zelenskiy was speaking ahead of a virtual meeting with European leaders and before he travels to Washington to meet with Donald Trump following the U.S. leader's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Zelenskiy reiterated his position that it was necessary to establish a ceasefire in order to then negotiate a final deal. "It's important that Washington is with us," the Ukrainian leader said. He will be accompanied by several European allies for Monday's talks with Trump. Zelenskiy said that Ukraine did not yet know all the demands made by Putin at the meeting with Trump on Friday, adding that it would take a long time to go over them -- and that this was not possible under "the pressure of weapons". (Reporting by Max HunderEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Frances Kerry)
