Trump lands in Alaska for summit with Putin, says he wants ceasefire ‘today'

Straits Times

12 hours ago

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US President Donald Trump speaking to members of the media aboard Air Force One on Aug 15, en route to Anchorage, Alaska.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - US President Donald Trump arrived in Alaska on Aug 15 for his high-stakes summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin after saying he wants to see a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine 'today'.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the talks, and his European allies fear Mr Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising - if only informally - Russian control over one fifth of Ukraine.
Mr Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swops.
'I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table,' he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: 'I want to see a ceasefire rapidly... I'm not going to be happy if it's not today... I want the killing to stop.'
Mr Trump is expected to greet Mr Putin upon the Russian leader's arrival.
The two presidents are then
due to meet at an air force base in Alaska's largest city at around 11am (3am on Aug 16 in Singapore) for their first face-to-face talks since Mr Trump returned to the White House.
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Mr Trump hopes a truce in the three-and-a-half-year-old war - the deadliest in Europe since World War II - will bring peace to the region as well as bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker
worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For Mr Putin, the summit is already a big win that he can portray as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.
Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the pre-summit mood as 'combative' and said the two leaders would discuss not only Ukraine but the full spectrum of bilateral relations, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Mr Trump, who once said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, conceded on Aug 14 it had proven to be a tougher task than he had expected. He said if the Aug 15 talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Mr Zelensky would be even more important than his encounter with Mr Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a three-way summit would be possible if the Alaska talks bore fruit, Interfax news agency reported.
Mr Peskov also said the Aug 15 talks could last six to seven hours and that aides would take part in what had been expected to be one-to-one meetings.
Mr Zelensky said the summit should open the way for a 'just peace' and three-way talks that included him, but added that
Russia was continuing to wage war on Aug 15.
A Russian ballistic missile earlier struck Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, killing one person and wounding another.
'It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,' Mr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
'Smart guy'
The Kremlin said Mr Putin would be met at his plane in Alaska by Mr Trump.
'He is a smart guy, been doing it for a long time, but so have I... We get along, there's a good respect level on both sides,' Mr Trump said of Mr Putin. He also welcomed Mr Putin's decision to bring businesspeople to Alaska.
'But they're not doing business until we get the war settled,' he said, repeating a threat of 'economically severe' consequences for Russia if the summit goes badly.
One source acquainted with Kremlin thinking said there were signs Moscow could be ready to strike a compromise on Ukraine, given that Mr Putin understood Russia's economic vulnerability and costs of continuing the war.
Reuters has previously reported that Mr Putin might be willing to freeze the conflict along the front lines, provided there was a legally binding pledge not to enlarge Nato eastwards and to lift some Western sanctions. Nato has said Ukraine's future is in the alliance.
Russia, whose war economy is showing signs of strain, is vulnerable to further US sanctions - and Mr Trump has threatened tariffs on buyers of Russian crude, primarily China and India.
'For Putin, economic problems are secondary to goals, but he understands our vulnerability and costs,' the Russian source said. Mr Putin this week held out the prospect of something else he knows Mr Trump wants - a new nuclear arms control accord to replace the last surviving one, which is due to expire in February.
Common ground?
The source familiar with Kremlin thinking said it looked as if the two sides had been able to find some common ground.
'Apparently, some terms will be agreed upon... because Trump cannot be refused, and we are not in a position to refuse (due to sanctions pressure),' said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the matter's sensitivity.
Mr Putin has said he is open to a full ceasefire but that issues of verification must first be sorted out. One compromise could be a truce in the air war.
Mr Zelensky has ruled out formally handing Moscow any territory and is also seeking a security guarantee backed by the United States.
Ukrainians who spoke to Reuters in central Kyiv on Aug 15
were not optimistic about the summit.
'Nothing good will happen there, because war is war, it will not end. The territories - we're not going to give anything to anyone,' said Ms Tetiana Harkavenko, a 65-year-old cleaner. REUTERS