Trump announces August 15 meet-up with Putin in Alaska, warns of land swap
But, Trump added, any peace deal would involve 'some swapping' of territory, a controversial prospect.
'We are going to have a meeting with Russia. We'll start off with Russia,' he said on Friday, as he hosted leaders from Armenia and Azerbaijan at the White House.
Trump offered few details on what, if anything, had changed in his months-long effort to bring about a deal to end Russia's invasion.
Still, he suggested any breakthrough would require the exchange of territory.
'It's very complicated. But we're going to get some back, and we're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, but we'll be talking about that either later, or tomorrow,' he said.
Ukraine and its European allies have long opposed any agreement that involves ceding occupied territory — including Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — to Russia.
But Putin has repeatedly said that any deal must require Ukraine to relinquish some of the territories Russia has seized since 2014.
He has also called for a pause to Western aid for Ukraine and an end to Kyiv's efforts to join the NATO military alliance.
Questions about the meeting's location
Still, the prospect of Trump meeting Putin has raised logistical questions in recent days, particularly since the Russian leader faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Prosecutors have sought his arrest for alleged war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine, and Putin's travel through any ICC member countries could result in his detention.
The US, however, is not an ICC member and does not recognise the court's authority.
While the Kremlin had previously floated the possibility of meeting in the United Arab Emirates, another non-member, Trump announced on Friday in a Truth Social post that he would welcome Putin to the US northernmost state, Alaska.
The state's mainland sits approximately 88 kilometers — or 55 miles — away from Russia across the Bering Strait, and some smaller islands are even closer.
Friday's announcement came on the same day as a deadline that Trump had imposed on Russia to reach a ceasefire passed without any new agreement.
In recent weeks, Trump had grown increasingly frustrated with Russia over the country's continued attacks on Ukraine and its apparent unwillingness to come to an accord.
The August 15 meeting is slated to be the first tete-a-tete between the two leaders since 2019, during Trump's first term.
'Great progress'
Trump had broken with decades of diplomatic precedent by seeming to embrace Putin during much of his time in the White House.
Earlier this year, for instance, Trump appeared to reject Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in favour of Putin. He also blamed Ukraine's ambitions of joining NATO for provoking Russia's full-scale invasion of its territory in February 2022.
'Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,' Trump yelled at one point during a confrontational meeting with Zelenskyy broadcast from the White House in February.
But Trump has positioned himself as a self-described 'peacemaker', and his inability to bring the Ukraine war to a close has become a source of resentment between him and Putin.
At the same time, he took an initially permissive approach to Putin, but has since expressed growing frustration with the Russian leader amid Russia's continued attacks.
Last week, Trump denounced Russia's renewed attacks on Kyiv. 'I think it's disgusting what they're doing. I think it's disgusting,' he said.
He also demanded that Russia pause its attacks or face new sanctions and secondary tariffs on key trading partners.
On Wednesday, Trump appeared to begin to make good on that threat, raising tariffs on Indian goods to 50 percent in response to its purchase of Russian oil.
Still, this week, Trump hailed 'great progress' in the peace negotiations as his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, visited Putin in Moscow.
But as of Friday, the date of the new deadline, no new US actions or Russian capitulations had been announced.
Some analysts have argued that Putin is intentionally teasing out talks to extend the war.
It remains unclear if Trump's mercurial approach has meaningfully changed the ceasefire equation since he took office.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
16 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,263
Here is how things stand on Sunday, August 10: Fighting Russian forces launched a drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's Kherson region, killing at least two people and wounding 16 others, according to Ukrainian officials. Another drone hit the bus as the police were responding to the attack, injuring three officers, the police added. Russian forces also launched 36 other attacks on settlements across the Kherson region through Friday and Saturday, killing at least one more person and injuring three, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Russian attacks on Ukraine's Zaporizhia region killed two people travelling in a car in the Bilenkivska community on Saturday morning, and a 61-year-old woman who was in her home in the Vasylivka district, a local official reported. In Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian attack killed a 56-year-old woman and wounded a 62-year-old man in the city of Nikopol, while in the Donetsk region, other Russian attacks killed four people and wounded nine, according to officials. A Ukrainian drone attack on a house in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine killed one person, Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported, while another assault on a car in the Borisovsky district of Russia's Belgorod region killed a husband and wife. Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that its forces had taken control of another Ukrainian village in the Donetsk region. The TASS news agency identified the village as Yablunivka. Russia's Defence Ministry also said that Moscow's forces shot down 224 Ukrainian drones on Friday night into Saturday. Russian forces launched a drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's Kherson region, killing at least two people and wounding 16 others, according to Ukrainian officials. Another drone hit the bus as the police were responding to the attack, injuring three officers, the police added. Russian forces also launched 36 other attacks on settlements across the Kherson region through Friday and Saturday, killing at least one more person and injuring three, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Russian attacks on Ukraine's Zaporizhia region killed two people travelling in a car in the Bilenkivska community on Saturday morning, and a 61-year-old woman who was in her home in the Vasylivka district, a local official reported. In Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian attack killed a 56-year-old woman and wounded a 62-year-old man in the city of Nikopol, while in the Donetsk region, other Russian attacks killed four people and wounded nine, according to officials. A Ukrainian drone attack on a house in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine killed one person, Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported, while another assault on a car in the Borisovsky district of Russia's Belgorod region killed a husband and wife. Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that its forces had taken control of another Ukrainian village in the Donetsk region. The TASS news agency identified the village as Yablunivka. Russia's Defence Ministry also said that Moscow's forces shot down 224 Ukrainian drones on Friday night into Saturday. Politics and Diplomacy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected concessions of land in any peace deal with Russia as United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to meet in Alaska on August 15. Trump has said that his meeting with Putin could see 'some swapping of territories' between Russia and Ukraine, 'to the betterment of both'. Zelenskyy said that 'Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier', and that 'decisions without Ukraine' would not bring peace. The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Finland, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, issued a joint statement welcoming Trump's efforts, while stressing the need to maintain support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia. The leaders said 'they remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force'. The US's NBC News broadcaster cited an unnamed US official as saying that the Trump administration was considering inviting Zelenskyy to join the US and Russian presidents at their Alaska meeting. The Wall Street Journal also reported that European officials who met US Vice President JD Vance in the UK on Saturday had presented a counterproposal for peace, which included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken. The proposal also said that any territory exchanges must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke on Saturday and pledged to find a 'just and lasting peace' in Ukraine, while welcoming Trump's efforts to end the fighting, a Downing Street spokesperson said. The two leaders also pledged 'their unwavering support to President Zelenskyy', the spokesperson said.
Qatar Tribune
5 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Trump nominates financial policy aide Stephen Miran for vacant Federal seat
Agencies U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate a top economic adviser to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, temporarily filling a vacancy as he seeks to boost his sway over the independent central bank. Trump said he has named Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a seat vacated by Governor Adriana Kugler, a former President Joe Biden appointee who is stepping down Friday. Kugler announced a surprise resignation last week, as she returns to her tenured professorship at Georgetown University. Miran, if approved by the Senate, will serve until Jan. 31, said the White House continues to search for a permanent replacement to serve in the 14-year Fed Board seat that opens Feb. 1. The appointment is Trump's first opportunity to exert more control over the Fed, one of the few remaining independent federal agencies. Trump has relentlessly criticized the current chair, Jerome Powell, for keeping short-term interest rates unchanged, calling him 'a stubborn MORON' last week on social media. Miran has advocated for a far-reaching overhaul of Fed governance that would include shortening Board member terms, putting them under the clear control of the president, and ending the 'revolving door' between the executive branch and the Fed. He has also been a major defender of Trump's income tax cuts and tariff hikes, arguing that the combination will generate enough economic growth to reduce budget who obtained a PhD in economics from Harvard, also has played down the risk of Trump's tariffs generating higher inflation, a major source of concern for Powell. His 41-page essay titled 'A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System' has been seen as providing rationale for Trump's aggressive trade policies. The choice of Miran may heighten concerns about political influence over the Fed, which has traditionally been insulated from day-to-day independence is generally seen as key to ensuring that it can take difficult steps to combat inflation, such as raising interest rates, that politicians might be unwilling to take. Federal Reserve governors vote on all the central bank's interest-rate decisions, as well as its financial regulatory policies. Miran's nomination, if approved, would add a near-certain vote in support of lower interest rates. At its most recent meeting last week, Fed officials kept their key rate unchanged at 4.3%, where it has stood after three rate cuts late last year. But two Fed governors – Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman – dissented from that decision. Both were appointed by Trump in his first term. Still, even with Miran on the board, 12 Fed officials vote on rate policy and many remain concerned that Trump's sweeping tariffs could push inflation higher in the coming months. After the July jobs report was released last Friday, Miran criticized Powell for not cutting rates, saying that Trump had been proven correct on inflation during his first term and would be again. The president has pressured Powell to cut rates under the belief that his tariffs will not fuel higher inflationary pressures.'What we're seeing now in real time is a repetition once again of this pattern where the president will end up having been proven right,' Miran said on MSNBC. 'And the Fed will, with a lag and probably quite too late, eventually catch up to the president's view.' Trump said Miran would do an 'outstanding' job in his new post. 'Has been with me from the beginning of my Second Term, and his expertise in the World of Economics is unparalleled,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'Congratulations Stephen!'
Qatar Tribune
5 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Oil steadies on reports of US-Russia deal, ends week about 5% lower
Oil held steady on Friday as markets awaited a meeting in coming days between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, but prices marked their steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook. Brent crude futures settled 16 cents higher at $66.59 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were unchanged at $63.88. Brent fell 4.4% over the week, while WTI finished 5.1% lower than last Friday's close. U.S. crude fell over 1% earlier in the session after Bloomberg News reported that Washington and Moscow were aiming to reach a deal to halt the war in Ukraine that would lock in Russia's occupation of territory seized during war. U.S. and Russian officials are working towards an agreement on territories for a planned summit meeting between Trump and Putin as early as this week. The potential meeting raises expectations of a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine, which could lead to eased sanctions on Russia, and comes as trade tensions have been on the rise between Trump and buyers of Russian oil. Trump threatened to increase tariffs on India if it kept purchasing Russian oil. Trump also said China, the largest buyer of Russian crude, could be hit with tariffs similar to those levied against Indian imports. Higher U.S. tariffs on imports from a host of trade partners went into effect on Thursday, raising concern over economic activity and demand for oil. Asian Spot LNG Prices Down on Weak Demand; Eyes on Sanctions Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices declined last week due to weak demand and as markets awaited further clarity on U.S. Russian energy sanctions or secondary tariffs. The average LNG price for September delivery into north-east Asia was at $11.90 per million British thermal units, down from $12.10 per mmBtu previous week, industry sources estimated. Spot global gas prices have been relatively rangebound since the start of summer gas season in April.. Analysts expect this trend to continue during the remaining months of the summer season. The market will be paying close attention to the latest news on tariffs and peace talks between Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine. Increased tariffs on countries like India could slow global trade, cutting energy demand. In Europe, prices remained relatively stable as Friday marks the deadline for Russia to respond to the U.S. ceasefire ultimatum. Looking ahead, anticipated Norwegian maintenance later this month, coupled with the need for further injections into Europe's storage, could provide upward price support in the second half of August.
