Trump says he thinks Putin will make a deal on Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies have intensified their efforts this week to prevent any deal between the U.S. and Russia emerging from Friday's summit that leaves Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.
"I think he's going to make a deal," Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well he would call Zelenskiy and European leaders afterwards and that if it went badly he would not.
The aim of Friday's talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: "I don't know that we're going to get an immediate ceasefire."
Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for the meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two.
In televised comments, Putin said that the U.S. was "making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict".
This was happening, Putin said, "in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole - if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons."
His comments signalled that Russia will raise the issue of nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump. A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the "huge untapped potential" for Russia-U.S. economic ties.
A senior eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related.
"We hope Trump won't be fooled by the Russians, he understands all (these) dangerous things," the official said, adding that Russia's only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted.
Trump said there would be a press conference after the talks but that he did not know whether it would be joint. He also said that there would be a give and take on boundaries and lands.
Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine and Zelenskiy and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe.
An EU diplomat said it would be "scary to see how it all unfolds in the coming hours. Trump had very good calls yesterday with Europe but that was yesterday".
Trump had shown willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine at a last-ditch virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelenskiy on Wednesday, European leaders said, though he made no public mention of them afterwards.
Zelenskiy said the security guarantees had been discussed in "considerable detail" in comments after a meeting in London on Thursday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Friday's summit, the first Russia-U.S. summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump insisted that the transatlantic NATO alliance should not be part of security guarantees that would be designed to protect Ukraine from future attacks in a post-war settlement.
Macron said, however, that Trump had also said the United States and all willing allies should be part of the security guarantees.
Expanding on that, a European official told Reuters that Trump said on the call he was willing to provide some security guarantees for Europe, without spelling out what they would be.
It "felt like a big step forward", said the official, who did not want to be named.
It was not immediately clear what such guarantees could mean in practice.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened "severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless.
Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands and has previously said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ukraine strikes Russian ship ‘carrying ammunition from Iran' on day of Trump-Putin summit
Ukraine has struck a large Russian oil refinery and key port, hitting a ship that had been transporting drone parts and ammunition from Iran, its military has confirmed. Kyiv said on Friday that Ukraine struck the Syzran oil refinery in Russia 's Samara region in an overnight attack and also hit the Caspian Sea port of Olya in the Astrakhan region the previous day, including the cargo vessel travelling to Russia. The strikes came hours before US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin meet for a crucial summit in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine – to which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has not been invited – and as Russia grinds out gains in Ukraine's east. Facing regular Russian missile and drone attacks, Ukraine has directed the majority of its deep strikes against Russian oil refineries and unspecified 'storage facilities' this year, according to new general staff data published on Friday. The Ukrainian military, as usual, did not confirm if it used drones for its latest two long-range attacks. It says its deep strike campaign aims to degrade Russia's capacity to wage the full-scale war it launched in February 2022. The Ukrainian military's claims could not be independently verified. In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, Kyiv's military said its strike caused a fire and explosions at the Syzran refinery, which it said produces a range of fuels and is one of the biggest in oil company Rosneft's network. Samara's regional governor said a drone attack caused a fire at an unspecified "industrial enterprise" in his region, but that it had been put out quickly. The Russian defence ministry said it had shot down Ukrainian drones over nine regions. The Ukrainian military also said it struck the Caspian port of Olya in Russia's Astrakhan region on Thursday, hitting a ship that had been transporting drone parts and ammunition from Iran. The vessel "Port Olya-4" regularly transits the Caspian Sea, bringing cargo between Iran and Russia, according to the US treasury department and Ukrainian military intelligence. Russia uses the Olya port as an important logistics hub for the supply of military goods from Iran, the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Friday. Meanwhile, Moscow's forces breached Ukrainian lines in a series of infiltrations in the country's industrial heartland of Donetsk this week. The advances amount to only a limited success for Russia, analysts say, since it still needs to consolidate its gains before achieving a true breakthrough – but it is still seen as a potentially dangerous moment for Ukraine. In other developments, Russian strikes in Ukraine's Sumy region overnight on Wednesday resulted in numerous injuries, Ukrainian regional officials said. A missile strike on a village in the Seredyna-Budska community wounded a 7-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man, according to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov. The girl was taken to hospital in a stable condition. In Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack damaged several apartment buildings in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, near the border with Ukraine, where 13 civilians were wounded, according to acting governor of the region, Yuri Slyusar. Two of the wounded were hospitalised in serious condition, he said.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
EuroMillions: Massive £201 million up for grabs on Friday after prize rolls over
Friday's EuroMillions lottery jackpot is set to hit £201 million after Tuesday's top prize went unclaimed. No one matched the jackpot earlier in the week, meaning the prize fund is rolled over. One UK player came close on Tuesday, winning £680,767 for matching five numbers and one Lucky Star. The National Lottery EuroMillions winning numbers were 18, 28, 42, 46 and 48. The lucky stars were 03 and 09. No tickets matched all five numbers to take home £1,000,000 in EuroMillions Hotpicks, which uses the same numbers as the EuroMillions draw. The massive £201 million jackpot on Friday would make it amongst the largest in history. The record – a staggering £213 million – was won in June. The winning ticket was won by an Irish family who bought it from a retailer in County Cork. Recalling the moment he realised he won, the anonymous winner said: 'I ran upstairs to my wife who had just gone to bed and woke her up. We both checked the numbers multiple times on the website. We sat at the edge of the bed, saying 'oh my god' over and over – I reckon we said it about 50 times. We were in total shock, complete disbelief.' The jackpot is capped at this amount – around €250 million – meaning the man had won the top prize that is currently possible. According to the National Lottery, there is a 1 in 139 million chance of winning the top prize, which increases as the jackpot grows larger and more people try their hand. Lottery winners have 180 days from the day of the draw to come forward and claim their winnings. Tuesday's Lotto numbers were 01, 16, 27, 41, 50 and 55 and the bonus number was 54. In Tuesday's Lotto HotPicks, which uses the same numbers as the Lotto draw, no players matched all five numbers to win the £350,000 top prize. One ticket holder won £13,000 after matching four of the five numbers. The winning Thunderball numbers were 17, 02, 30, 36 and 05 and the Thunderball number was 08. No ticket holders won £500,000 by matching all five numbers plus the Thunderball. Two players matched all five regular numbers, which earned them £5,000 each.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Minister ‘hugely disappointed' as talks to agree UN plastics treaty fail
Environment minister Emma Hardy has said she is 'hugely disappointed' that negotiations for the world's first treaty to combat plastic pollution ended once again in failure. Delegates were seeking to complete a legally binding international agreement on Thursday after 10 days of what was meant to be the final round of UN talks in Geneva, Switzerland. But the gavel came down in overtime on Friday morning with no deal reached after negotiators struggled to break a deadlock over key issues. The biggest sticking point has been whether the treaty should impose caps on producing new plastic or focus instead on things such as better design, recycling and reuse. In a statement later on Friday, Ms Hardy said: 'I'm hugely disappointed that an agreement wasn't reached, but am extremely proud of the way the UK worked tirelessly until the end to seek an ambitious and effective treaty. 'Plastic pollution is a global crisis that no country can solve alone, and the UK is committed to working with others at home and abroad to protect the environment and pave the way to a circular economy.' The UK was part of the 'high ambition coalition' which was calling for binding obligations on reducing production and consumption, sustainable product design, environmentally sound management of plastic waste, and clean-up of pollution. But a smaller number of powerful oil and gas producing nations including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait oppose production limits, which they consider outside the scope of the treaty. Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said the talks had been a 'hard-fought 10 days' against the backdrop of geopolitical complexities, economic challenges, and multilateral strains. 'However, one thing remains clear: despite these complexities, all countries clearly want to remain at the table,' he said. 'While we did not land the treaty text we hoped for, we at UNEP will continue the work against plastic pollution – pollution that is in our groundwater, in our soil, in our rivers, in our oceans and, yes, in our bodies.' Over the past few days, Luis Vayas Valdivieso, chairman of the negotiating committee, gathered views from the representatives of 184 countries before writing two drafts of treaty text. But countries ultimately rejected both as the basis for negotiations after they failed to bridge the major rifts between different groups of nations. Mr Vayas Valdivieso said: 'Failing to reach the goal we set for ourselves may bring sadness, even frustration. 'Yet it should not lead to discouragement. On the contrary, it should spur us to regain our energy, renew our commitments, and unite our aspirations.' Every year, the world makes more than 400 million tonnes of new plastic, and that could grow by about 70% by 2040 without policy changes. About 100 countries want to limit production. Many have said it is also essential to address toxic chemicals used to make plastics. Once in the environment, plastic waste can entangle, choke or be eaten by wildlife and livestock, clog up waterways and litter beaches, while bigger items break down into microplastics, entering food chains. Producing plastic, primarily from fossil fuel oil, also has a climate impact, with the World in Data and OECD saying 3.3% of global emissions is down to the production and management of global plastics. Since talks began in 2022, countries have taken part in several rounds of negotiations to reach consensus on tackling the issue. The Geneva talks were arranged after what was originally meant to be the final round of talks in Busan, South Korea, similarly ended without a deal in November. It is understood another round of negotiations could be organised when the location and money for it is found. Environment campaigners, politicians and a coalition of businesses praised the high ambition countries for holding the line for a strong deal and said no treaty was better than a weak one, but they warned of the urgency to tackle the growing crisis. Graham Forbes, Greenpeace's head of delegation at the talks, said: 'The inability to reach an agreement in Geneva must be a wake-up call for the world: ending plastic pollution means confronting fossil fuel interests head-on. 'We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result. The time for hesitation is over.' UK Green Party peer Natalie Bennett said: 'The draft treaty was the product of intense lobbying by the chemical and plastics industries backed by key petroleum states. These vested interests should never have been allowed near the talks in the first place. 'An ambitious treaty, which leads to decisive action to cut plastic production, is absolutely essential and the UK Government must lead the way in closing the door on oil-producing states and fossil fuel and chemical corporations from future talks.' The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, which represents 200 companies including Nestle, PepsiCo Walmart, Tetra Pak and Unilever, said it was 'disappointed' by the lack of an agreement, but said there is 'cause for optimism'. Rebecca Marmot, chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer at Unilever, said: 'The strong alignment among governments, business and civil society groups calling for a treaty with harmonised regulations across the full lifecycle of plastics is encouraging.'
