Trump and Putin to spar over Ukraine peace at summit
The meeting of the Russian and US leaders at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska will be their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House and comes amid Ukrainian and European fears that Trump might sell out Kyiv.
The White House said the meeting would take place at 11am on Friday (5am on Saturday AEST).
Trump, who once said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, said on Thursday the three-and-a-half-year conflict had proven a tougher nut to crack than he had thought.
He said if his talks with Putin went well, setting up a subsequent three-way summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy - who was not invited to Friday's meeting - would be even more important than his encounter with Putin.
Trump is pressing for a truce to bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, something he has made clear is important to him.
Ukraine and its European allies were heartened by their conference call on Wednesday in which, they said, Trump agreed Ukraine must be involved in any talks about ceding land.
Zelenskiy said Trump had also supported the idea of security guarantees in a postwar settlement, although the US president has made no public mention of them.
Wednesday's call eased their fears of a Trump-Putin deal that would leave Ukraine under pressure to make territorial and other concessions.
Putin, whose war economy is showing signs of strain, needs Trump to help Russia break out of its straitjacket of ever-tightening Western sanctions, or at least not hit Moscow with more sanctions, something Trump has threatened.
The day before the summit, the Kremlin leader held out the prospect of something else he knows Trump wants - a new nuclear arms control agreement to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire in February 2026.
Trump said on the eve of the summit that he thought Putin would do a deal on Ukraine, but he has blown hot and cold on the chances of a breakthrough.
Putin, meanwhile, praised what he called "sincere efforts" by the US to end the war.
The Russian leader has set stringent conditions for a full ceasefire, but one compromise could be a phased truce in the air war, although both sides have accused the other of flouting a previous accord.
Zelenskiy has accused Putin of bluffing and playing for time to avoid US secondary sanctions and has ruled out handing Moscow any territory.
Trump has said land transfers between Russia and Ukraine could be a possible way of breaking the logjam.
Putin, whose forces control nearly one fifth of Ukraine, wants Trump to start reviving the two countries' shrunken ties and, ideally, not to make that process contingent on progress on Ukraine.
But it is unclear whether Putin is willing to compromise on Ukraine.
In power for a quarter of a century, the Kremlin chief has staked his legacy on coming out of the war with something he can sell to his people as a victory.
Chief among his war aims is complete Russian control over the Donbas industrial region in eastern Ukraine, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk.
Despite steady advances, a quarter of Donetsk remains beyond Russian control.
Putin also wants full control of Ukraine's Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, NATO membership to be taken off the table for Kyiv, and limits on the size of Ukraine's armed forces.
Ukraine says these terms are unacceptable and tantamount to asking it to capitulate.
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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.
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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.
