‘Compromising Ukraine is not something Trump wants'
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Sky News
26 minutes ago
- Sky News
Will Trump be outmanoeuvred or will he surprise us all?
History-making summits between the US and the Soviet Union are strewn through the decades, dripping with mutual suspicion but significantly shaping the course of events after the Cold War. Think Nixon-Brezhnev in Moscow in 1972 when they signed a landmark arms treaty. Think Reagan-Gorbachev in Geneva and Reykjavik and others, which ended in limiting short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. All these summits required huge planning and detailed preparation. Donald Trump's summits are different, at least this one is. Hurriedly arranged and without much idea about what will emerge. The US president is on record as saying there is a 25% chance it won't be a success. 3:44 The circumstances are very different. This time, it is about Vladimir Putin's invasion of a sovereign country and how to bring the fighting to an end. The fear is that Trump will once again give Putin the benefit of the doubt. I was in Helsinki in 2018 when there were sharp intakes of breath as Trump literally sided with the Russian president over his own intelligence chiefs. Not privately, but in the news conference that followed. It was all about Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump said: "My people came to me and they all said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin here and he says it wasn't Russia and I have to say this, I don't see any reason why it would be." It was a pretty bad look, an American president undermining the work of the country's intelligence agencies. Former Trump foreign policy advisor Fiona Hill remembers it well. She was there and was horrified. She said afterwards that it literally crossed her mind to fake some kind of medical emergency to bring the whole thing to an end. Here in Alaska, the plan is, once again, for Trump and Putin to have talks alone, other than translators. 1:43 Their negotiating teams will eventually join them but Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are desperately worried that Trump will be outmanoeuvred. The experienced, ruthless ex-KGB man is nothing if not a survivor and his aim is to buy time and continue the war.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Putin says US making ‘sincere efforts' to end war as Russian troops make gains
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the US was making 'sincere efforts' to halt the war in Ukraine and suggested Moscow and Washington could agree a nuclear arms deal as part of a wider effort to strengthen peace during his meeting with Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday. Speaking to his most senior ministers and security officials in televised comments he said that the US was 'making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict'. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov however warned that it would be a big mistake to predict the outcome of the upcoming summit, the Interfax news agency reported. Peskov said there were no plans to sign any documents after the summit in the Alaska city of Anchorage, Interfax said. Trump said he believed Putin was ready to make a deal on Ukraine, but his suggestion the Russian leader and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could 'divvy things up' was likely to have caused alarm some in Kyiv. The US president implied there was a 75% chance of the Alaska meeting succeeding, and that the threat of economic sanctions may have made Putin more willing to seek an end to the war. Trump insisted that he would not let Putin get the better of him in Friday's meeting, telling reporters: 'I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me. 'I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes … whether or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting. The Russian president will set out to woo his US counterpart and dangle financial incentives for siding with Moscow over Ukraine at their summit on Friday, Pjotr Sauer reports. On Thursday, Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov said the leaders would discuss the 'huge untapped potential' in Russia-US economic relations. 'An exchange of views is expected on further developing bilateral cooperation, including in the trade and economic sphere,' Ushakov said. 'This cooperation has huge and, unfortunately so far, untapped potential.' European leaders praised Trump on Thursday for agreeing to allow US military support for a force they are mustering to police any future peace in Ukraine – a move that vastly improves the chances of success for an operation that could prove essential for the country's security. The leaders said Trump offered American military backup for the European 'reassurance force' during a call they held with him ahead of his planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. They did not say what the assistance might involve, and Trump himself has not publicly confirmed any support. UK prime minister Keir Starmer welcomed Zelenskyy to London on Thursday in a show of British support for Ukraine ahead of the Alaska summit. The two embraced warmly outside Starmer's offices at 10 Downing Street without making any comments. Around an hour later, Starmer walked Zelenskyy back to his waiting car, and the two leaders shared another embrace as the Ukrainian president departed. Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said that Ukrainian troops had stabilised the battlefield in an area of eastern Ukraine where Russian forces had made a sudden push this week to pierce Ukrainian defences. Ukraine said small groups of Russian infantry had thrust 10 kilometres (six miles) toward its main defensive line near the town of Dobropillia, raising fears of a wider breakthrough that would further threaten key cities. The advance appeared aimed at pressuring Kyiv to give up land in pursuit of peace three-and-a-half years into Russia's invasion of its neighbour. 'The situation in the Dobropillia sector has stabilised,' Filashkin wrote the Telegram messaging app. 'Thanks to the heroic efforts of our Defence Forces, the frontline is reliably holding.' However Ukraine on Thursday ordered more evacuations in the east, from a town close to where Moscow made its breakthrough. 'We began the mandatory evacuation of families with children from the town of Druzhkivka,' said Donetsk regional military administration head Vadym Filashkin, adding that four more villages near the town were also ordered to evacuate. He added that 1,879 children were remaining in the settlements. Earlier on Thursday, Russian forces claimed to have captured the village of Iskra and the small town of Shcherbynivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region, which the Kremlin claimed to have annexed in September 2022. The US Agency for International Development did not monitor the uses of 5,175 Starlink terminals sent to Ukraine, with nearly half of the operational units ending up in areas fully or partly held by Moscow, according to a report by the agency's internal watchdog. USAID's inspector general found that the agency failed to keep track of the terminals of Elon Musk's satellite internet service because it had accepted a higher risk of misuse due to 'the complex wartime environment' and Ukraine's urgent need for them. The report did not say how those terminals ended up in those areas, who had them or the purposes for which they were used. Russia and Ukraine exchanged 84 prisoners each on Thursday, both sides said, the latest in a series of swaps that has seen hundreds of PoW released so far this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that among the exchanged prisoners were 'both military personnel and civilians', some of whom had been 'held by the Russians since 2014, 2016, and 2017'. He said 'defenders of Mariupol' were also part of the swap, referring to a Ukrainian port city that fell to Russian forces in 2022 after a nearly three-month siege. Russia has put Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on its list of 'undesirable' organisations, effectively banning the media watchdog from operating in the country, Moscow's justice ministry register showed on Thursday. Under a controversial law passed in 2015, but rarely used before its offensive on Ukraine, Russia can ban overseas organisations deemed a threat to national security. Russian State Duma chair Vyacheslav Volodin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during an official visit to Pyongyang, the Russian parliament said on Thursday. Volodin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, conveyed greetings from the Russian leader and thanked Kim for North Korea's support of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Ukraine cause akin to Second World War Allies, Starmer says before Alaska talks
The Prime Minister addressed a reception, including veterans, to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, which marked the Allies' defeat of Japan. Speaking in Downing Street, Sir Keir said: 'I sat on this terrace this very morning with President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, who is fighting for the same values as we were fighting for. And so when we say never forget, we must pass on the stories of those who have gone before us.' It came as US President Donald Trump suggested European leaders could be invited to a second meeting if the summit is successful, which could pave the way to peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine. President Donald Trump (Alex Brandon/AP) Mr Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday at the summit which could see the drawing up of peace terms for Ukraine. Mr Trump and Sir Keir have spoken optimistically about a potential ceasefire, including at a virtual meeting of Ukrainian allies on Wednesday. Leaders of the European-led 'coalition of the willing' could then join talks between Mr Trump, Mr Putin and Ukrainian leader Mr Zelensky to end the war. The possibility was raised by Mr Trump in the White House on Thursday, before he flew to Anchorage where he will meet Mr Putin. He said: 'We have a meeting with President (Vladimir) Putin tomorrow, I think it's going to be a good meeting. 'But the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, myself, and maybe we'll bring some of the European leaders along. Maybe not.' The PA news agency understands that Sir Keir will attend a meeting if he is invited. He has been a central player in the coalition group which also includes French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Mr Trump added: 'I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they can get along. And if they can it will be great.' The head of the British armed forces, Sir Tony Radakin, said the West should not be 'cowed' by Mr Putin and praised the strength of Britain and Nato. Writing in the Telegraph on the anniversary of VJ Day, he said: 'Putin doesn't want a war with Nato because he would lose. So we should not be cowed by his rhetoric or his campaign of sabotage, outrageous as it may be. 'The one weapon that is most needed in our arsenal is confidence. Despite the global instability, Britain is secure at home. Nato is strong. Russia is weak. It is not complacent to point this out.' Sir Keir met Mr Zelensky in Downing Street on Thursday. They both said there was 'strong resolve' for peace in Ukraine. The two leaders embraced as the red carpet was rolled out for Mr Zelensky's arrival in Downing Street, and they later discussed the conflict. They expressed cautious optimism about the prospect of a truce 'as long as Putin takes action to prove he is serious' about ending the war, a Downing Street statement said. In a separate statement, Mr Zelensky said there had been discussions about the security guarantees required to make any deal 'truly durable if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killing'. But concerns linger over the prospect of Kyiv being excluded from negotiations over its own future, and pressured to cede territory, after Mr Trump suggested any agreement may need to involve 'swapping of land'.
