Zelenskiy in London, Trump meets with Putin
Friday's Alaska summit comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war, the largest in Europe since World War Two, that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
On the backfoot on the battlefield against Russian forces, Zelenskiy and his allies are keen to avoid any deal between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that leaves Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian attacks.
Zelenskiy met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to build on momentum from virtual talks on Wednesday with European leaders and Trump to try to set red lines for the talks between Trump and Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. Zelenskiy and Starmer embraced before heading in to their meeting in Downing Street.
On Wednesday, Trump threatened "severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and while he did not specify what the consequences could be, he has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless.
"Yesterday was a pivotal moment for reinforcing European and transatlantic unity," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X. "We need peace through strength as a foundation for the future of global security and stability."
Zelenskiy said he warned Trump that Putin was "bluffing" about his desire to end the war.
The Ukrainian leader also said Trump had supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement. Politico cited people familiar with the situation as saying that Trump had said the U.S. could provide guarantees with some conditions.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters security guarantees were discussed on the call.
"We have no details of his [Trump's] view on this but now he is more open for some kind of U.S. support for the guarantees," the source said, adding that Trump understood that a U.S. backstop was needed for guarantees to be workable.
"So he mentioned it [on the call] and maybe everyone will work on it," the source said.
Russian military advances
Zelenskiy confirmed this week that Russian forces had advanced by about 9-10 km (6 miles) near the town of Dobropillia in the Donetsk region. Ukraine, suffering manpower challenges, was forced to move in reserves to stabilise the situation.
Trump's comments and the outcome of the virtual conference on Wednesday could provide encouragement for Kyiv.
Trump described the aim of his talks with Putin in Alaska as "setting the table" for a quick follow-up that would include Zelenskiy.
However, Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands strongly and previously has said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
Trump has said a deal could include what he called a land swap. Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine and a land swap within Ukraine could cement Moscow's gains.
Zelenskiy and the Europeans worry that would reward Putin for nearly 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and embolden him to expand further west in Europe.
A source familiar with the matter said Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev will participate in Friday's summit.
Dmitriev, who heads up Russia's RDIF sovereign wealth fund, has previously held talks with Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, and has spoken of possible business cooperation between Moscow and Washington.
Trump's agreement last week to the summit was an abrupt shift after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the U.S. peace initiative.
A Gallup poll released last week found that 69 percent of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means significant concessions.
As conditions for a cease-fire and the start of talks, Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own but does not fully control, and formally renounce plans to join NATO.
Kyiv swiftly rejected the conditions as tantamount to surrender.
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What to know about the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska
The U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska is happening where East meets West — quite literally — in a place familiar to both countries as a Cold War front line of missile defense, radar outposts and intelligence gathering. Whether it can lead to a deal to produce peace in Ukraine more than 3 1/2 years after Moscow's invasion remains to be seen. Here's what to know about the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the first summit in four years: When and where is it taking place? The summit takes place Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson outside Anchorage starting about 11:30 a.m. (1930 GMT, 3:30 p.m. EDT), between Putin and Trump as well as a meeting of the delegations, said Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser. It's Putin's first trip to the U.S. since 2015 for the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Because the U.S. isn't a member of the International Criminal Court, which in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin on war crimes accusations, it's under no obligation to arrest him. Is Zelenskyy going? Both countries confirmed a meeting between only Putin and Trump, despite initial suggestions that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might take part. The Kremlin has long pushed back against Putin meeting Zelenskyy -– at least until a peace deal is reached by both sides and is ready to be signed. Putin said last week he wasn't against meeting Zelenskyy "but certain conditions need to be created" and were "still a long way off." That raised fears about excluding Ukraine from negotiations. Kyiv and its European allies stressed that peace cannot be achieved without Kyiv's involvement. Zelenskyy was in Berlin for virtual meetings Wednesday with Trump and European leaders to try to ensure Ukraine and its allies are heard before the summit. The Ukrainian president told the group Putin "is bluffing" about his military might and the effectiveness of sanctions, and "is trying to apply pressure ... on all sectors of the Ukrainian front" to try to show that Russia is "capable of occupying all of Ukraine." In reality, sanctions are "hitting Russia's war economy hard," Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy also met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday. What's Alaska's role in Russian history? It will be the first visit by a Russian leader to Alaska, even though it was part of the czarist empire until 1867, the state news agency Tass said. Alaska was colonized by Russia starting from the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the United States in 1867 for $7.2 million. When it was found to contain vast resources, it was seen by Russians as a naïve deal that generated remorse. After the USSR's collapse, Alaska was a subject of nostalgia and jokes for Russians. One popular song in the 1990s went: "Don't play the fool, America … give back our dear Alaska land." Sam Greene of King's College London said on X the symbolism of Alaska as the site of a summit about Ukraine was "horrendous — as though designed to demonstrate that borders can change, land can be bought and sold." What's the agenda? Trump has appeared increasingly exasperated with Putin over Russia's refusal to halt the bombardment of Ukraine. Kyiv has agreed to a ceasefire, insisting on a truce as a first step toward peace. Moscow presented ceasefire conditions that are nonstarters for Zelenskyy, such as withdrawing troops from the four regions Russia illegally annexed in 2022, halting mobilization efforts, or freezing Western arms deliveries. For a broader peace, Putin demands Kyiv cede the annexed regions, even though Russia doesn't fully control them, and Crimea, renounce a bid to join NATO, limit the size of its armed forces and recognize Russian as an official language along with Ukrainian. Zelenskyy insists any peace deals include robust security guarantees to protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression. Putin has warned Ukraine it will face tougher conditions for peace as Russian troops forge into other regions to build what he described as a "buffer zone." Some observers suggested Russia could trade those recent gains for territory under Ukrainian control in the four annexed regions annexed by Moscow. Zelenskyy said Saturday that "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier." But Trump said Monday: "There'll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody. To the good, for the good of Ukraine. Good stuff, not bad stuff. Also, some bad stuff for both." Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region it still controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the Ukrainian categorically rejected. Kyiv won't give up territory it controls, he added, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion. He said discussions led by the U.S. on ending the war have not addressed key Ukrainian demands, including security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression and including Europe in negotiations. French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Trump was "very clear" in a virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelenskyy that the U.S. wants to achieve a ceasefire. Macron added that Trump had been clear that "territorial issues relating to Ukraine ... will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president." What are expectations? Trump said Wednesday there will be unspecified "very severe consequences" if Putin does not agree to stop the war after the summit. Putin sees a meeting with Trump as a chance to cement Russia's territorial gains, keep Ukraine out of NATO and prevent it from hosting any Western troops so Moscow can gradually pull the country back into its orbit. He believes time is on his side as Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances along the front amid swarms of Moscow's missiles and drones. The meeting is a diplomatic coup for Putin, isolated since the invasion. The Kremlin sought to portray renewed U.S. contacts as two superpowers looking to resolve various global problems, with Ukraine being just one. Ukraine and its European allies are concerned a summit without Kyiv could allow Putin to get Trump on his side and force Ukraine into concessions. "Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace," Zelenskyy said. "They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work." European officials echoed that. "As we work towards a sustainable and just peace, international law is clear: All temporarily occupied territories belong to Ukraine," European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. "A sustainable peace also means that aggression cannot be rewarded." NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Sunday he believed Trump was "making sure that Putin is serious, and if he is not, then it will stop there." "If he is serious, then from Friday onwards, the process will continue. Ukraine getting involved, the Europeans being involved," Rutte added. Since last week, Putin spoke to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, the Kremlin said. That suggested Putin perhaps wanted to brief Russia's most important allies about a potential settlement, said pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov. Putin also met with top government officials on the eve of the summit.
