Trump says he will discuss ‘land swapping' with Putin at Ukraine war summit
The two world leaders will meet in the US state at the end of this week to discuss a potential deal to end to the three-year-old war between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said there would 'be some land swapping going on,' adding that this would involve "some bad stuff' for both countries.
Trump also expressed frustration with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky 's insistence that Kyiv would need to hold a national referendum on any peace deal which grants Russia control over territory it has illegally occupied since the start of its invasion in 2022.
'I was a little bothered by the fact that Zelensky was saying I have to get constitutional approval,' Trump said. 'He has approval to go to war and kill everybody but he needs approval to do a land swap. Because there will be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody.'
Zelensky has remained firm that Ukraine won't commit to giving up land in order to secure a ceasefire, despite Russia's control over four of the country's regions.
Trump caused alarm when he told reporters he was 'going to Russia on Friday,' despite the meeting taking place in Alaska, a region which was colonised by Russia until Czar Alexander II sold it to the US in 1867.
The US president has said that the meeting with the Russian leader is 'a feel-out meeting', adding that he was open to meeting with Putin first and then with Zelensky, or meeting both together. However, he did not say he would push for a three-person meeting.
'President Putin invited me to get involved,' he said, adding he felt it was very respectful for Putin to come to Alaska instead of asking Trump to go to Russia.
European Union leaders shared a statement of support for Ukraine on Tuesday, appealing for Trump to defend their security interests during the summit.
The statement from 26 nations welcomed the 'efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine' but stressed that 'the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine."
"A just and lasting peace that brings stability and security must respect international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and that international borders must not be changed by force,' they said.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban did not support the statement, later writing on social media: 'The statement attempts to set conditions for a meeting to which leaders of the EU were not invited.
'The fact that the EU was left on the sidelines is sad enough as it is. The only thing that could make things worse is if we started providing instructions from the bench', he added, before concluding: 'The only sensible action for EU leaders is to initiate an EU-Russia summit, based on the example of the US-Russia meeting. Let's give peace a chance!'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
Putin reaffirms friendship with North Korea ahead of Trump talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed his "friendship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, ahead of his talks with Donald Trump on also comes as the BBC reported the "slave-like" condition facing thousands of North Korean workers sent to Russia to take part in construction and Kim spoke on Tuesday, with the Russian leader praising Pyongyang's military support for his country's war against week, Russia has been making fresh military advances in Ukraine, leading to a sudden thrust near the eastern town of Dobropillia and advancing 10km (six miles) in a short period of time. Kim and Putin "reaffirmed their commitment to the further development of friendship relations, good-neighbourliness and cooperation," the Kremlin said in a gave the North Korean leader an update on the Alaska summit's preparation, sharing with him "information in the context of the upcoming talks with US President Donald Trump," the Kremlin said. The official North Korean statement did not mention this. Repeating his earlier statement, Putin "praised the assistance provided by [North Korea's] support during the liberation of the territory of the Kursk region", according to his Ukrainian army briefly invaded Russia's Kursk region last year in an unexpected offensive that showed Western allies its capability to fight back against Russia, which currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine's territories. Putin and Kim spoke just days before the Russian leader is expected to travel to Alaska to meet Trump, his first face-to-face meeting with a US president since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February war, while causing Russia near-complete economic and diplomatic isolation from the West, has seen unprecedented collaboration between Moscow and Pyongyang. At least 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to fight side by side with their Russian counterparts, according to Ukraine and South Korea also provided Russia with missiles, artillery shells and many of Russia's men either killed or tied up fighting - or having fled the country - South Korean intelligence officials have told the BBC that Moscow is increasingly relying on North Korean more: North Koreans tell BBC they are being sent to work 'like slaves' in Russia
The Guardian
17 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Newsom says California will draw new electoral maps after Trump ‘missed' deadline
California governor Gavin Newsom says the state will draw new electoral maps after Donald Trump 'missed' a deadline on Tuesday night in an ongoing redistricting battle between Democratic and Republican states. 'DONALD 'TACO' TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, 'MISSED' THE DEADLINE!!!', Newsom's office wrote on social media. 'CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE 'BEAUTIFUL MAPS,' THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!)'. 'BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM — YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR — THAT WILL BE DEVASTATING FOR 'MAGA.' THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GN,' reads the post. The post follows a series of snarky, all-caps tweets meant to mimic Trump's social media writing style. Newsom was mocking Trump's moniker, 'Taco', short for 'Trump always chickens out', prompted by his flip-flopping deadlines. Several states have waded into the redistricting wars, where Newsom and other Democratic state leaders had threatened to draw retaliatory maps if Texas were to move ahead with its redistricting scheme. Texas Democrats had left the state to stop Republicans from passing a new congressional map. The Texas senate passed the new congressional map on Tuesday, but it will not earn full approval from the legislature because of the quorum-break. Lawmakers are set to adjourn on Friday and Texas's governor, Greg Abbott, has said he will immediately convene a new special session. In a letter sent to Trump on Monday, Newsom said he would prefer to leave the matter of congressional map-making to independent commissions, not partisan legislative bodies and emphasized that he would 'happily' stand down if other states abandoned their redistricting effort. But, Newsom said: 'California cannot stand idly by as this power grab unfolds.' Newsom's office summarized the letter Monday in a mocking social media post to Trump: 'DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA TO OFFSET THE RIGGING OF MAPS IN RED STATES. BUT IF THE OTHER STATES CALL OFF THEIR REDISTRICTING EFFORTS, WE WILL DO THE SAME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!' At a press conference with several quorum-breaking Texas lawmakers, as well as California's legislative leaders, Newsom outlined his plan to ask voters to override the existing congressional maps drawn by an independent commission and accept a new proposal to create five more Democratic-leaning seats. The governor expressed confidence that voters would approve the plan and said the state legislature would act in time to get the measure on the ballot this November. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Trump has defended the Texas plan, arguing that he is 'entitled to five more seats' because he won the state's popular vote in the 2024 presidential election. The argument, however, is flawed – a popular vote win does not necessarily mean a president's party is awarded more congressional seats. Despite Newsom's appeal, the White House is seeking to enlist other red states in the redistricting clash. Last week, vice-president JD Vance traveled to Indiana, where he met with state Republican leaders to lobby them on the effort. Republicans have also targeted Ohio and Missouri. Lauren Gambino contributed reporting
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Major US adversary believed to be behind 'unprecedented' cyber hack on US court data
Russia is believed to be behind an 'unprecedented' cyber hack that exposed some of the Department of Justice's most high-profile sources. Last week, it was revealed the hackers breached the electronic case filing system used by the federal judiciary - and may have accessed confidential information from federal district courts around the country. It has since been dug up by investigators that those responsible, at least in part, have Russian origins, just days before Donald Trump is set to meet with Vladimir Putin in Washington. Several people briefed told the New York Times that despite the certainty, it was unclear if the hackers were with Russian intelligence or if other nations were involved in what they call a yearslong effort. The searches involved in the breach often involved mid-level criminal files that featured people with Russian surnames. Last week, it was revealed that among the information that may have been compromised are the identities of confidential informants in criminal cases, though the identities of those who were thought to face exceptional risk for cooperating with the DOJ are held on separate systems than the ones hacked. Department of Justice officials under Attorney General Pam Bondi have reportedly been informed that the court files have faced 'persistent and sophisticated cyber threat actors have recently compromised sealed records.' The staffers have been warned to remove any of their most important documents from the system. Officials are still dealing with figuring out the patterns of the breach and determine the complete damage done. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. Other information the hackers may have acquired are sealed indictments detailing confidential information about alleged crimes and arrests and search warrants that criminals may use to evade capture. The Administrative Office of the US Courts, which manages the federal court filing system, has now been left scrambling with the Department of Justice and district courts around the US to determine how much of a threat the hack poses. But an unidentified source who spent more than two decades on the federal judiciary told Politico: 'It's the first time I've ever seen a hack at this level.' It is now suspected that the attack was conducted by nation-state affiliated actors, though criminal organizations may have also been involved. Officials were first made aware of the breach around the July 4 holiday, and chief judges of the federal courts in the 8th Circuit - which includes Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota - were alerted about the hack last week, according to Politico. It affected the judiciary's federal core case management system - which includes the Case Management/Electronic Case Files that lawyers use to upload and manage case documents as well as PACER, a system that gives the public limited access to the data. Roughly a dozen court dockets were also tampered with in one court district during the hack, an unidentified source said. The incident demonstrates the susceptibility of the outdated court filing system to hackers. PACER had even been hacked at least once before - back in July 2022 - in a breach that then-House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler described as 'startling in breadth and scope.' Michael Scudder, who chairs the Committee on Information Technology for the federal courts and national policymaking body, warned the House Judiciary in June of this year that more such attacks may be coming. He said that because the Judiciary holds such sensitive information, it faces 'unrelenting security threats of extraordinary gravity.' 'Experience has shown that the Judiciary is a high-value target for malicious actors and cyber criminals seeking to misappropriate confidential information and disrupt the judicial process in the United States,' he testified. 'These attacks pose risks to our entire justice system.' In fiscal year 2024, he noted, 200 million harmful cyber 'events' were prevented from penetrating court local area networks in fiscal year 2024, according to The Record. But, Scudder said, the Case Management/Electronic Case Files and PACER systems pose an even greater risk as they are 'outdated [and] unsustainable due to cyber risks and require replacement,' which he said is a 'top priority' for the Department of Justice. Still, Scudder said, a new, more modernized system would have to be 'developed and rolled out on an incremental basis.'
