Trump spruiks 'very friendly' call with Zelenskyy ahead of meeting with Putin
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The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
In high-stakes summit, Trump, not Putin, budges
Donald Trump wanted to go bold -- a high-pomp, high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin to test whether the Russian leader would compromise on the Ukraine war. In the end, it looks like it was Trump, not Putin, who budged. Putin, visibly delighted as he stepped foot in the West for the first time since ordering the 2022 invasion, made no apparent concession at the talks at an Alaska air base. In a brief joint media appearance with Trump, who unusually took no questions, Putin again spoke of addressing the "root causes" of the Ukraine war and warned Kyiv and Europeans against disrupting "emerging progress" with the United States, the top defender of Ukraine under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden. Trump, who bills himself as a master negotiator, acknowledged there was "no deal" but said there were "very few" areas of disagreement, although he was vague on what they were. But posting hours later on his Truth Social account, Trump said he wanted Russia and Ukraine to "go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war" and not a ceasefire. Trump's own administration had been pushing a ceasefire for months, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signing on after intense pressure from Trump. Putin had repeatedly rejected truce offers and kept up attacks on Ukraine, seeking to maximize battlefield advantage. - Putin again woos Trump - Trump had vowed to be firm with Putin after wide criticism of the US president's cowed appearance before him at a 2018 summit in Helsinki. But Putin again found ways to flatter and trigger Trump, who in his second term constantly speaks unprompted about his many grievances. Putin told Trump before the cameras that there would have been no war -- which Putin himself launched -- if Trump were president in 2022 rather than Biden, a frequent Trump talking point. Trump bemoaned the effect on ties with Putin of what he again called the "hoax" of the findings by US intelligence that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help him. In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity after the summit, Trump said that "one of the most interesting things" Putin told him was about... the US voting system. Trump said approvingly that Putin -- who has held power in Russia since 2000 and was declared the winner of elections last year with 88 percent of the vote -- told him of the risks of mail-in ballots and said of Trump's 2020 loss to Biden, "You won that election by so much." US election authorities and experts have found no evidence of wide-scale fraud from mail-in ballots in the 2020 election, which Trump, uniquely in US history, refused to concede. - 'Shameful' or wait and see? - Trump's Democratic rivals voiced outrage that the summit secured no breakthrough and said it only served to normalize Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. "By quite literally rolling out the red carpet, Trump has legitimized Russia's aggression and whitewashed Putin's war crimes. It's shameful," said Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Experts said it was too early to write off the summit completely, as much is not known about what was discussed behind closed doors. Trump will meet Zelensky on Monday at the White House. Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, which backs US restraint, said that Trump's critics have been proven wrong in saying he would "give Ukraine to Putin or force Kyiv to accept surrender." "His focus has been and remains getting Putin to the negotiating table. Mr. Trump deserves credit rather than condemnation for his efforts so far," she said. But Kristine Berzina, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said an initial read was that "Putin scored a victory by showing up, and Trump's limited words and tense demeanor left Putin to control the narrative." "For a man so attached to showmanship, Trump unusually allowed Putin to be the star of what should have been the Trump show," she said. sct/md
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Melania Trump writes to Putin about abducted children
US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, has raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials say. President Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their summit talks in Alaska, the officials told Reuters. Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska on Friday. The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine. The existence of the letter was not previously reported. Russia's seizure of Ukrainian children has been a deeply sensitive one for Ukraine. Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy conveyed his gratitude to the first lady on his call with Trump on Saturday, Ukraine's foreign minister said. "This is a true act of humanism," Andrii Sybiha added on X. Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone. The United Nations Human Rights Office has said Russia has inflicted suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trump and Putin met for nearly three hours at a US military base in Anchorage without reaching a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, has raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials say. President Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their summit talks in Alaska, the officials told Reuters. Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska on Friday. The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine. The existence of the letter was not previously reported. Russia's seizure of Ukrainian children has been a deeply sensitive one for Ukraine. Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy conveyed his gratitude to the first lady on his call with Trump on Saturday, Ukraine's foreign minister said. "This is a true act of humanism," Andrii Sybiha added on X. Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone. The United Nations Human Rights Office has said Russia has inflicted suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trump and Putin met for nearly three hours at a US military base in Anchorage without reaching a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, has raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials say. President Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their summit talks in Alaska, the officials told Reuters. Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska on Friday. The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine. The existence of the letter was not previously reported. Russia's seizure of Ukrainian children has been a deeply sensitive one for Ukraine. Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy conveyed his gratitude to the first lady on his call with Trump on Saturday, Ukraine's foreign minister said. "This is a true act of humanism," Andrii Sybiha added on X. Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone. The United Nations Human Rights Office has said Russia has inflicted suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trump and Putin met for nearly three hours at a US military base in Anchorage without reaching a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine. US President Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, has raised the plight of children in Ukraine and Russia in a personal letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, two White House officials say. President Trump hand-delivered the letter to Putin during their summit talks in Alaska, the officials told Reuters. Slovenian-born Melania Trump was not on the trip to Alaska on Friday. The officials would not divulge the contents of the letter other than to say it mentioned the abductions of children resulting from the war in Ukraine. The existence of the letter was not previously reported. Russia's seizure of Ukrainian children has been a deeply sensitive one for Ukraine. Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy conveyed his gratitude to the first lady on his call with Trump on Saturday, Ukraine's foreign minister said. "This is a true act of humanism," Andrii Sybiha added on X. Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone. The United Nations Human Rights Office has said Russia has inflicted suffering on millions of Ukrainian children and violated their rights since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trump and Putin met for nearly three hours at a US military base in Anchorage without reaching a ceasefire deal in the war in Ukraine.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Zelenskiy braces for perilous Trump talks in Washington
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy is flying to Washington under heavy US pressure to agree a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine, but is determined to defend Kyiv's interests, without sparking a second Oval Office bust-up with Donald Trump. The US president invited Zelenskiy to Washington after rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Kyiv's arch foe, at a summit in Alaska that shocked many in Ukraine, where tens of thousands have died since Russia's 2022 invasion. The Alaska talks failed to produce the ceasefire that Trump had sought, and the US leader said on Saturday that he now wanted a full-fledged peace deal and that Kyiv should accept because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not". The blunt rhetoric throws the weight of expectation squarely back onto Zelenskiy, putting him in a potentially perilous position as he returns to Washington for the first time since his talks with Trump in the Oval Office spiralled into acrimony in February. The US president upbraided Zelenskiy in front of world media at the time, saying Ukraine's leader did not "hold the cards" in negotiations and that what he described as Kyiv's intransigence risked triggering World War Three. Trump's pursuit of a quick deal now comes despite intense diplomacy by the European allies and Ukraine to convince the US president that a ceasefire should come first and not, as sought by the Kremlin, once a settlement is agreed. The New York Times, citing two senior European officials, reported on Saturday that European leaders were also invited to attend Monday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump briefed Zelenskiy on his talks with Putin during a call on Saturday that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Ukrainian leader said. They were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials, he added. "The impression is he wants a fast deal at any price," a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters. The source said Trump sought to convince Zelenskiy to agree to the idea of a deal in which he would withdraw troops from the partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have been trying to capture for years. Zelenskiy replied that it was not possible, the source added. Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters by phone that Trump's emphasis on a deal rather than a ceasefire carried great risks for Ukraine. "In Putin's view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church," he said. Any such deal could be politically explosive inside Ukraine, Merezhko said, adding he was worried that Putin's international isolation had ended. Avoiding a repeat of the Oval Office acrimony is critical for Zelenskiy to preserve the relationship with the US, which still provides military assistance and shares intelligence. For Ukraine, robust security guarantees to prevent any future Russian invasion lie at the foundations of any serious peace settlement. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump and the European leaders discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine that would be outside NATO but similar to the alliance's Article 5 during their call on Saturday. NATO, which Kyiv seeks to join, though Trump has made clear that it will not happen soon, regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. One of the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said European leaders were seeking clarity on what kind of US role this guarantee would involve, but that there were no details yet. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022. Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks in Alaska with Putin were successful. "Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on Saturday. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy is flying to Washington under heavy US pressure to agree a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine, but is determined to defend Kyiv's interests, without sparking a second Oval Office bust-up with Donald Trump. The US president invited Zelenskiy to Washington after rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Kyiv's arch foe, at a summit in Alaska that shocked many in Ukraine, where tens of thousands have died since Russia's 2022 invasion. The Alaska talks failed to produce the ceasefire that Trump had sought, and the US leader said on Saturday that he now wanted a full-fledged peace deal and that Kyiv should accept because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not". The blunt rhetoric throws the weight of expectation squarely back onto Zelenskiy, putting him in a potentially perilous position as he returns to Washington for the first time since his talks with Trump in the Oval Office spiralled into acrimony in February. The US president upbraided Zelenskiy in front of world media at the time, saying Ukraine's leader did not "hold the cards" in negotiations and that what he described as Kyiv's intransigence risked triggering World War Three. Trump's pursuit of a quick deal now comes despite intense diplomacy by the European allies and Ukraine to convince the US president that a ceasefire should come first and not, as sought by the Kremlin, once a settlement is agreed. The New York Times, citing two senior European officials, reported on Saturday that European leaders were also invited to attend Monday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump briefed Zelenskiy on his talks with Putin during a call on Saturday that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Ukrainian leader said. They were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials, he added. "The impression is he wants a fast deal at any price," a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters. The source said Trump sought to convince Zelenskiy to agree to the idea of a deal in which he would withdraw troops from the partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have been trying to capture for years. Zelenskiy replied that it was not possible, the source added. Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters by phone that Trump's emphasis on a deal rather than a ceasefire carried great risks for Ukraine. "In Putin's view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church," he said. Any such deal could be politically explosive inside Ukraine, Merezhko said, adding he was worried that Putin's international isolation had ended. Avoiding a repeat of the Oval Office acrimony is critical for Zelenskiy to preserve the relationship with the US, which still provides military assistance and shares intelligence. For Ukraine, robust security guarantees to prevent any future Russian invasion lie at the foundations of any serious peace settlement. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump and the European leaders discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine that would be outside NATO but similar to the alliance's Article 5 during their call on Saturday. NATO, which Kyiv seeks to join, though Trump has made clear that it will not happen soon, regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. One of the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said European leaders were seeking clarity on what kind of US role this guarantee would involve, but that there were no details yet. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022. Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks in Alaska with Putin were successful. "Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on Saturday. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy is flying to Washington under heavy US pressure to agree a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine, but is determined to defend Kyiv's interests, without sparking a second Oval Office bust-up with Donald Trump. The US president invited Zelenskiy to Washington after rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Kyiv's arch foe, at a summit in Alaska that shocked many in Ukraine, where tens of thousands have died since Russia's 2022 invasion. The Alaska talks failed to produce the ceasefire that Trump had sought, and the US leader said on Saturday that he now wanted a full-fledged peace deal and that Kyiv should accept because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not". The blunt rhetoric throws the weight of expectation squarely back onto Zelenskiy, putting him in a potentially perilous position as he returns to Washington for the first time since his talks with Trump in the Oval Office spiralled into acrimony in February. The US president upbraided Zelenskiy in front of world media at the time, saying Ukraine's leader did not "hold the cards" in negotiations and that what he described as Kyiv's intransigence risked triggering World War Three. Trump's pursuit of a quick deal now comes despite intense diplomacy by the European allies and Ukraine to convince the US president that a ceasefire should come first and not, as sought by the Kremlin, once a settlement is agreed. The New York Times, citing two senior European officials, reported on Saturday that European leaders were also invited to attend Monday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump briefed Zelenskiy on his talks with Putin during a call on Saturday that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Ukrainian leader said. They were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials, he added. "The impression is he wants a fast deal at any price," a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters. The source said Trump sought to convince Zelenskiy to agree to the idea of a deal in which he would withdraw troops from the partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have been trying to capture for years. Zelenskiy replied that it was not possible, the source added. Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters by phone that Trump's emphasis on a deal rather than a ceasefire carried great risks for Ukraine. "In Putin's view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church," he said. Any such deal could be politically explosive inside Ukraine, Merezhko said, adding he was worried that Putin's international isolation had ended. Avoiding a repeat of the Oval Office acrimony is critical for Zelenskiy to preserve the relationship with the US, which still provides military assistance and shares intelligence. For Ukraine, robust security guarantees to prevent any future Russian invasion lie at the foundations of any serious peace settlement. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump and the European leaders discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine that would be outside NATO but similar to the alliance's Article 5 during their call on Saturday. NATO, which Kyiv seeks to join, though Trump has made clear that it will not happen soon, regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. One of the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said European leaders were seeking clarity on what kind of US role this guarantee would involve, but that there were no details yet. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022. Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks in Alaska with Putin were successful. "Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on Saturday. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy is flying to Washington under heavy US pressure to agree a swift end to Russia's war in Ukraine, but is determined to defend Kyiv's interests, without sparking a second Oval Office bust-up with Donald Trump. The US president invited Zelenskiy to Washington after rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Kyiv's arch foe, at a summit in Alaska that shocked many in Ukraine, where tens of thousands have died since Russia's 2022 invasion. The Alaska talks failed to produce the ceasefire that Trump had sought, and the US leader said on Saturday that he now wanted a full-fledged peace deal and that Kyiv should accept because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not". The blunt rhetoric throws the weight of expectation squarely back onto Zelenskiy, putting him in a potentially perilous position as he returns to Washington for the first time since his talks with Trump in the Oval Office spiralled into acrimony in February. The US president upbraided Zelenskiy in front of world media at the time, saying Ukraine's leader did not "hold the cards" in negotiations and that what he described as Kyiv's intransigence risked triggering World War Three. Trump's pursuit of a quick deal now comes despite intense diplomacy by the European allies and Ukraine to convince the US president that a ceasefire should come first and not, as sought by the Kremlin, once a settlement is agreed. The New York Times, citing two senior European officials, reported on Saturday that European leaders were also invited to attend Monday's meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Trump briefed Zelenskiy on his talks with Putin during a call on Saturday that lasted more than an hour and a half, the Ukrainian leader said. They were joined after an hour by European and NATO officials, he added. "The impression is he wants a fast deal at any price," a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters. The source said Trump sought to convince Zelenskiy to agree to the idea of a deal in which he would withdraw troops from the partially-occupied eastern Donetsk region that Russian troops have been trying to capture for years. Zelenskiy replied that it was not possible, the source added. Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine. Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Reuters by phone that Trump's emphasis on a deal rather than a ceasefire carried great risks for Ukraine. "In Putin's view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church," he said. Any such deal could be politically explosive inside Ukraine, Merezhko said, adding he was worried that Putin's international isolation had ended. Avoiding a repeat of the Oval Office acrimony is critical for Zelenskiy to preserve the relationship with the US, which still provides military assistance and shares intelligence. For Ukraine, robust security guarantees to prevent any future Russian invasion lie at the foundations of any serious peace settlement. Two sources familiar with the matter said that Trump and the European leaders discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine that would be outside NATO but similar to the alliance's Article 5 during their call on Saturday. NATO, which Kyiv seeks to join, though Trump has made clear that it will not happen soon, regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. One of the two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said European leaders were seeking clarity on what kind of US role this guarantee would involve, but that there were no details yet. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said a trilateral meeting with the Russian and US leaders is crucial to finding a way to end the full-scale war launched by Russia in February 2022. Trump this week voiced the idea of such a meeting, saying it could happen if his bilateral talks in Alaska with Putin were successful. "Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this," Zelenskiy wrote on social media on Saturday.
