Putin and Trump make plans to meet next week
This summit, the first between leaders of the two countries since 2021, aims to achieve a breakthrough in ending the Ukraine war.
A venue for the meeting has been agreed upon, with the announcement expected at a later date.
Potential locations for the summit include Reykjavik, Qatar, Geneva, Serbia, and the UAE, each offering unique diplomatic advantages.
The previous meeting between Trump and Putin in Helsinki in 2018 sparked controversy due to Trump's remarks on Russian election interference.
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BreakingNews.ie
28 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Zelensky thanks European allies for support ahead of Trump-Putin meeting
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked European nations who have rallied behind his country ahead of a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Mr Trump has said Friday's meeting in Alaska with his Russian counterpart was to discuss ending the more than three-year war. Advertisement Mr Zelensky responded by thanking European allies and wrote on X on Sunday: 'The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people.' The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations. Ukraine values and fully supports the statement by President… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 10, 2025 Saturday's statement by top European leaders emphasising that peace cannot be achieved without Kyiv's involvement came after the White House confirmed the US president was willing to grant Mr Putin the one-on-one meeting Russia has long pushed for, and suggestions from Mr Trump that a peace deal could include 'some swapping of territories'. This raised fears Kyiv may be pressured into giving up land or accepting other curbs on its sovereignty. A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not allowed to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that Mr Trump remained open to a trilateral summit with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, but for now, he will have a bilateral meeting requested by Mr Putin. Advertisement Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday met top European and Ukrainian officials at the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy's weekend residence to discuss how to end the war. Foreign Secretary David Lammy welcomed JD Vance to Chevening House in Kent on Friday (Suzanne Plunkett/PA) Mr Trump had earlier said he would meet Mr Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Mr Zelensky. The Trump-Putin meeting may prove pivotal in a war that began when Russia invaded its western neighbour and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there is no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace. Saturday's statement, signed by the president of the European Union and leaders of the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Finland, stressed the need for a 'just and lasting peace' for Kyiv, including 'robust and credible' security guarantees. Advertisement 'Ukraine has the freedom of choice over its own destiny. Meaningful negotiations can only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities,' the statement said. 'The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force,' the Europeans added. A month-long US-led push to achieve a truce in Ukraine has so far proved fruitless, with Kyiv agreeing in principle while the Kremlin has held out for terms more to its liking. Mr Trump had also moved up an ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. The deadline was Friday. The White House did not answer questions on Saturday about possible sanctions. Advertisement The Kremlin earlier this week reiterated demands that Ukraine gives up territory, abandons its bid to join Nato, and accepts limits on its military, in exchange for a withdrawal of Russian troops from the rest of the country. Mr Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukraine 'will not give Russia any awards for what it has done' and that 'Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier'. Ukrainian officials previously told the AP privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognise Ukraine's inability to regain lost territories militarily. But Mr Zelensky on Saturday insisted that formally ceding land was out of the question.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
European leaders united in response to Trump and Putin's meeting
Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin next week in Alaska to discuss a peace plan for the conflict in Ukraine. Trump has suggested that the proposed peace talks could involve a "swapping of territories" between Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has firmly rejected any notion of ceding land, stating Ukraine will not give up its territory to the occupier. European leaders and allies have united in support of Ukraine, asserting that any peace deal must include Ukraine and protect Europe's security interests, with no changes to international borders by force. A meeting of national security advisers from the US, Ukraine, and European countries was held in the UK to discuss achieving a just and lasting peace.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Zelenskyy welcomes European leaders' statement on Ukraine role in peace talks
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has welcomed a statement from European allies insisting that the 'path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine', before a planned summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. In a joint statement issued on Saturday night, leaders from the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Poland and Finland, along with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stressed that Kyiv must be included in any peace talks with Russia. The US president and his Russian counterpart are preparing to meet in Alaska on Friday. A White House official said on Saturday night that Trump was open to the inclusion of Zelenskyy in the talks but added that for now the summit remained bilateral. Russia said on Sunday that one person had been killed and several apartments and an industrial facility had been damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack on the southern Russian region of Saratov. On Saturday, two people died and 16 were injured when a Russian drone hit a minibus in the suburbs of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, said the region's governor, Oleksandr Prokudin. Two others died after a Russian drone struck their car in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov. In their statement, the European leaders welcomed Trump's attempts to end the war but emphasised that negotiations could only take place in the context of a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities. The statement added: 'Only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed.' On Sunday, Zelenskyy wrote on X: 'The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations. 'Ukraine values and fully supports the statement by President Macron, Prime Minister Meloni, Chancellor Merz, Prime Minister Tusk, Prime Minister Starmer, President Ursula von der Leyen, and President Stubb on peace for Ukraine.' In a Telegram post on Saturday, Zelenskyy had said that any decisions made without Kyiv were 'dead decisions' and '[would] never work'. The British foreign secretary, David Lammy, and the US vice-president, JD Vance, who is on holiday in the UK, held a meeting with Ukrainian and European partners on Saturday aimed at driving peace in Ukraine. The meeting took place at Chevening, a country mansion in Kent traditionally used by the foreign secretary. Lammy later posted on X that the UK's support for Ukraine 'remains ironclad as we continue working towards a just and lasting peace'. If the Trump-Putin summit goes ahead, it will be the first time a US president has met the Russian leader since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The last meeting Putin had with a US president was with Joe Biden in Geneva in June 2021. Details of a potential deal have not been announced, but Trump said ending the war would involve 'some swapping of territories to the betterment of both', meaning Ukraine could be required to renounce significant parts of its territory. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Zelenskyy on Saturday stressed that Ukrainians 'will not give up their land to occupiers'. A European official confirmed that a counterproposal was put forward by European representatives at the Chevening meeting but declined to provide details. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the counterproposal included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken and that any territory exchange must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees. It was not clear what, if anything, had been agreed at Chevening, but Zelenskyy called the meeting constructive. 'All our arguments were heard,' he said in his evening address to Ukrainians. 'The path to peace for Ukraine should be determined together and only together with Ukraine. This is [a] key principle.'
