Trump and Putin to meet in Alaska next Friday to discuss Ukraine
The Kremlin later confirmed the summit, calling the location "quite logical."
"The presidents themselves will undoubtedly focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in a statement posted on Telegram.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.
Putin held consultations Friday with the leaders of China and India ahead of the summit with Trump, who has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough.
"The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, 15August, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska," Trump said on his Truth Social site.
He said earlier at the White House that "there'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details. Trump invited to Russia Three rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit would bring peace any closer.
Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.
He has also ruled out holding talks with Volodymyr Zelensky at this stage, a meeting the Ukrainian president says is necessary to make headway on a deal.
At talks in Istanbul last month, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands for halting its advance -- calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it controls and to renounce Western military support.
The Alaska summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.
Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January.
The Kremlin's Ushakov said that Trump had been invited to visit Russia.
"Looking ahead, it is natural to hope that the next meeting between the presidents will be held on Russian territory. A corresponding invitation has already been sent to the US president," Ushakov said. Witkoff visit The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had updated Chinese President Xi Jinping on "the main results of his conversation" with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who visited Moscow earlier this week.
Xi expressed support for a "long-term" solution to the conflict, the Kremlin said.
China's Xinhua state news agency quoted Xi as having told Putin: "China is glad to see Russia and the United States maintain contact, improve their relations, and promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis."
Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, economic and military ties since the start of Russia's offensive in Ukraine.
Putin also spoke by phone to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after both countries condemned new US tariffs over New Delhi's oil purchases from Russia.
Xi and Modi have both tried to tout their own peace initiatives for Ukraine, though they have gained little traction.
Putin, a former KGB agent who has ruled Russia for more than 25 years, said in June that he was ready to meet Zelensky, but only during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending the conflict.
In his regular evening address on Thursday, Zelensky said "it is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations."
Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said Friday that families with children would be evacuated from 19 more villages in the region's east, where Russian forces have been advancing.
The villages, home to hundreds of people, are all within about 20 miles (30 kilometres) of the front line.
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Zelenskyy says no to territorial concessions: ‘Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier'
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Zelenskyy also urged Ukraine's allies to take "clear steps" towards achieving a sustainable peace, during a call with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer. National security advisors from Kyiv's allies -- including the United States, EU nations and the UK -- were gathering in Britain on Saturday to align their views ahead of the Putin-Trump summit. French President Emmanuel Macron, following phone calls with Zelenskyy, Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, said "the future of Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukrainians" and that Europe also had to be involved in the negotiations. Later Saturday, in his evening address, Zelenskyy added: "There must be an honest end to this war, and it is up to Russia to end the war it started." A 'dignified peace' Three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine this year have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit could bring peace any closer as the warring sides' positions are still far apart. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes. Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire. Putin, a former KGB officer in power in Russia for over 25 years, has ruled out holding talks with Zelenskyy at this stage. Ukraine's leader has been pushing for a three-way summit and has frequently said meeting Putin is the only way to make progress towards peace. Far from the war The summit in Alaska, the far-north territory which Russia sold to the United States in 1867, would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. Nine months later, Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. Zelenskyy said of the location that it was "very far away from this war, which is raging on our land, against our people". The Kremlin said the choice was "logical" because the state close to the Arctic is on the border between the two countries, and this is where their "economic interests intersect". Moscow has also invited Trump to pay a reciprocal visit to Russia later. Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January with Trump trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough. On Friday, Putin held a round of calls with allies, including Brazil, China and India, in a diplomatic flurry ahead of the Alaska summit. In a 40-minute phone conversation Saturday between Putin and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian leader reiterated his support for dialogue "and the pursuit of a peaceful solution", his office said. The US president had earlier imposed an additional tariff on India for buying Russia's oil in a bid to nudge Moscow into talks. He also threatened to impose a similar tax on China, but so far has refrained from doing so. Fighting goes on Russia and Ukraine continued pouring dozens of drones onto each other's positions in an exchange of attacks in the early hours of Saturday. A bus carrying civilians was hit in Ukraine's frontline city of Kherson, killing two people and wounding 16. The Russian army claimed to have taken Yablonovka, another village in the Donetsk region, the site of the most intense fighting in the east and one of the five regions Putin says is part of Russia. Four people were killed as of Saturday morning in Donetsk after Russian shelling, Ukrainian authorities said. In 2022, the Kremlin announced the annexation of four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – despite not having full control over them. Russia had previously annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. As a prerequisite to any peace settlement, Moscow demanded Kyiv pull its forces out of the regions and commit to being a neutral state, shun Western military support and be excluded from joining NATO. Kyiv said it would never recognise Russian control over its sovereign territory, though it acknowledged that getting land captured by Russia back would have to come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield.
Euractiv
a day ago
- Euractiv
Trump and Putin to meet in Alaska next Friday to discuss Ukraine
US President Donald Trump said Friday he would meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in one week in Alaska, and suggested that an eventual deal between Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine could involve swapping territory. The Kremlin later confirmed the summit, calling the location "quite logical." "The presidents themselves will undoubtedly focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in a statement posted on Telegram. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes. Putin held consultations Friday with the leaders of China and India ahead of the summit with Trump, who has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough. "The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, 15August, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska," Trump said on his Truth Social site. He said earlier at the White House that "there'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details. Trump invited to Russia Three rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit would bring peace any closer. Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine. Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire. He has also ruled out holding talks with Volodymyr Zelensky at this stage, a meeting the Ukrainian president says is necessary to make headway on a deal. At talks in Istanbul last month, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands for halting its advance -- calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it controls and to renounce Western military support. The Alaska summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump's first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January. The Kremlin's Ushakov said that Trump had been invited to visit Russia. "Looking ahead, it is natural to hope that the next meeting between the presidents will be held on Russian territory. A corresponding invitation has already been sent to the US president," Ushakov said. Witkoff visit The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had updated Chinese President Xi Jinping on "the main results of his conversation" with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who visited Moscow earlier this week. Xi expressed support for a "long-term" solution to the conflict, the Kremlin said. China's Xinhua state news agency quoted Xi as having told Putin: "China is glad to see Russia and the United States maintain contact, improve their relations, and promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis." Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, economic and military ties since the start of Russia's offensive in Ukraine. Putin also spoke by phone to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after both countries condemned new US tariffs over New Delhi's oil purchases from Russia. Xi and Modi have both tried to tout their own peace initiatives for Ukraine, though they have gained little traction. Putin, a former KGB agent who has ruled Russia for more than 25 years, said in June that he was ready to meet Zelensky, but only during a "final phase" of negotiations on ending the conflict. In his regular evening address on Thursday, Zelensky said "it is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations." Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said Friday that families with children would be evacuated from 19 more villages in the region's east, where Russian forces have been advancing. The villages, home to hundreds of people, are all within about 20 miles (30 kilometres) of the front line.
Euractiv
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Defence
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