European leaders air potential deal to halt Ukraine war ahead of Alaska meeting
The proposal emerged from an online meeting to set the terms for the talks on Friday, amid European concerns that Trump will trade away territory at his summit with Putin without pushing hard enough for an end to the hostilities and guarantees over future security.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the meeting, which included Trump as well as every major European leader, that Putin was 'bluffing' about his desire for peace and should be subjected to escalating economic sanctions.
Trump spoke of 'very severe consequences' for Russia if it did not agree to a peace deal, but he did not offer any detail about what this would mean.
With Russian forces piercing some of the Ukrainian defences on the front line at the same time as Russian missiles bring destruction to Ukrainian cities, the Alaska summit represents the first significant opportunity for a ceasefire after months of intensifying attacks.
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Zelensky told Trump on Wednesday, Berlin time, to heighten pressure on Putin with economic sanctions and secondary tariffs because the Russian leader was only pretending to consider a ceasefire.
'I told the US president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing,' he said at a press conference after the online meeting.
'He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.'
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an hour ago
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