Trump-Putin summit receives mixed reactions from European leaders, US lawmakers
Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, huddled with Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, for nearly three hours at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska on Friday.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský welcomed the president's effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been raging for well over three years, but slammed the Russian leader's remarks following the closed-door meeting in Alaska.
'From Putin, we heard the same propagandistic nonsense about the 'roots of the conflict' that his state television promotes. The problem is Russian imperialism, not Ukraine's desire to live freely,' Lipavský said in a Friday post on social media platform X.
European Union's (EU) foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Saturday morning that Trump's effort to stop the conflict in Eastern Europe is 'vital,' but argued that Russia has no intention of ending the war 'anytime soon.'
'The U.S. holds the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously. The EU will work with Ukraine and the U.S. so that Russia's aggression does not succeed and that any peace is sustainable,' Kallas wrote on X. 'Moscow won't end the war until it realizes it can't continue. So Europe will continue to back Ukraine, including by working on a 19th Russia sanctions package.'
Trump said Friday evening that both sides made progress, but a ceasefire agreement was not struck. Neither the president nor Putin relayed any details about the agreements when addressing reporters after the huddle.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump ally who has a warm relationship with the Kremlin leader, argued the world is a safer place as a result of the summit.
'For years we have watched the two biggest nuclear powers dismantle the framework of their cooperation and shoot unfriendly messages back and forth. That has now come to an end. Today the world is a safer place than it was yesterday,' Orban wrote Saturday morning on X. 'May every weekend be at least this good!'
Trump briefed EU leaders — dubbed the 'Coalition of the Willing — and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte during a Saturday call after the meeting. The European politicians hailed the president's push to end the war, but emphasized that Ukraine needs 'ironclad' security guarantees in order to 'effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.'
The coalition is made up of French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Trump on Monday at the White House. The president said Saturday on Truth Social that the 'best way' to end the war is to 'go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.'
Ukraine's leader indicated his support for a trilateral meeting between himself, Trump and Putin.
'President Trump informed about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion,' Zelensky said Saturday on X. 'It is important that America's strength has an impact on the development of the situation.'
During the Saturday joint call, Trump told European leaders and Zelensky that he wants to broker a trilateral meeting as soon as next Friday, Axios reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
Reaction to the summit was also mixed among some U.S. lawmakers.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), one of the staunchest Ukraine supporters in the House, said Friday that 'time will tell what ultimately manifests' from Friday's meeting between U.S. and Russian delegations.
'I commend and credit President Trump's peace through strength policies which forced Putin to come to America to discuss a possible cease-fire, which Ukraine has already and repeatedly agreed to,' Fitzpatrick said Friday on X.
'Ukraine's sovereignty and freedom are not bargaining chips; they are principles that must be defended. No path to peace is credible without their voice,' the Pennsylvania Republican added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a supporter of Ukraine and Trump ally, predicted Friday night that if the trilateral meeting between the president, Putin and Zelensky takes place, the conflict could end before Christmas.
'Make no mistake, this war is a war of aggression by Putin against Ukraine. However, I have always said Ukraine will not evict every Russian soldier and Putin is not going to take Kyiv,' Graham said. 'The key to ending this war honorably and justly is to create an infrastructure of deterrence that Biden and Obama failed to do — which will prevent a third invasion.'
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he supports 'active' diplomacy and argued that peacemaking has to be done 'responsibly' or it 'risks' the security of Europeans, Ukrainians and Americans.
'I didn't care for the red-carpet treatment Putin was afforded or the signal Trump sent by welcoming him with applause. And I think everyone was a bit surprised by the lack of detail and unorthodox post-meeting press conference,' Reed said in a statement on Saturday,' adding that the U.S. should team up with allies to impose new sanctions on Russia to 'intensify the economic pressure.'
Trump said during the call with European and NATO officials that he is open to offering U.S. security guarantees to Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing European officials familiar with the matter.
The president told European leaders that the Russian president will not halt the military offensive while peace discussions are underway, according to the report. But Putin is open to, as part of a potential peace settlement, having Western security forces in Ukraine to ensure the truce would last, the Journal reported, citing four officials briefed on the matter.
Macron signaled the U.S.'s openness to contributing to Ukraine's security guarantees on X.
The French leader said Saturday that 'any lasting peace must be accompanied by unwavering security guarantees. I welcome, in this regard, the readiness of the United States to contribute. We will work on this with them and with all our partners in the Coalition of the Willing, with whom we will meet again soon, to make concrete progress.'
Still, Putin is reportedly demanding that Ukraine pull back from Luhansk and Donetsk regions as a condition to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Financial Times (FT) reported, citing four sources with direct knowledge of the Friday meeting, that Putin would halt the rest of the front lines if this request is fulfilled.
The Russian leader would freeze the front lines in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions and would refrain from new offensives to conquer more Ukrainian land in exchange for Luhansk and Donetsk, the FT reported.
Russia controls about 70 percent of Donetsk. Zelensky has previously said he is not willing to give up Donetsk, but he is open to negotiating the territorial divides, one of the main sticking points, with the president at the White House, the FT reported.
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