Donald Tusk says ‘freeze' in Ukraine war may be close as US and Russia plan talks
Tusk's remarks came after he spoke with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has communicated with Trump and European leaders in recent days as the White House continues to try to broker an end to the three-and-a-half-year war.
'There are certain signals, and we also have an intuition, that perhaps a freeze in the conflict – I don't want to say the end, but a freeze in the conflict – is closer than it is further away,' Tusk said during a news conference. 'There are hopes for this.'
Tusk said Zelenskyy was 'very cautious but optimistic' about the ceasefire, Reuters reported. Ukraine was keen that Poland and other European countries play a role in planning for a ceasefire and an eventual peace settlement, Tusk said.
Trump has said he is willing to meet Putin one on one without preconditions, including direct negotiations between Putin and Zelenskyy, stoking fears that Ukraine may be left out of negotiations for the framework of a potential ceasefire.
Zelenskyy has responded by speaking with European leaders including the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who are key conduits to Trump.
Fox News on Friday reported that the meeting could take place at the end of next week. Potential venues include Switzerland, Rome, Hungary and the United Arab Emirates, the conservative outlet said. Switzerland and Italy are parties to the international criminal court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Putin and where law enforcement would theoretically be required to detain the Russian president. Hungary's Viktor Orbán announced plans to withdraw from the ICC earlier this year.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said Putin did not have to meet Zelenskyy first before the US and Russian presidents could meet.
'No, he doesn't,' Trump said. 'They would like to meet with me and I'll do whatever I can to stop the killing.'
Putin said he was not ready to meet Zelenskyy, even as the Kremlin claimed preparations were under way for a set-piece bilateral summit with Trump next week.
'I have nothing against it in general, it is possible, but certain conditions must be created for this,' said Putin of the meeting with Zelenskyy. 'But unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.'
The US envoy Steve Witkoff had proposed a three-way meeting with Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy, but the Kremlin had ignored that suggestion, said the Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, and was 'focusing on preparations for a bilateral meeting with Trump in the first place'.
No venue has been set for the potential summit, but Putin did mention that Dubai in the United Arab Emirates was a possibility during a meeting with its leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahya.
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BBC News
19 minutes ago
- BBC News
Why are Trump and Putin meeting in Alaska?
The US and Russia have agreed to hold a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin next Friday, to discuss ways forward to end the war in announced the meeting last Friday, the same day of his self-imposed deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire or else face more US sanctions. Three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine held at Trump's behest this summer have yet to bring the two sides any closer to peace. Here is what we know about the meeting between the two leaders, taking place in Alaska - a former Russian territory which only became a US state in 1959. Why are Putin and Trump meeting? Trump has been pushing hard - without much success - to end the war in Ukraine. As a candidate, Trump pledged that he could end the war within 24 hours after taking office. He has also repeatedly claimed that the war "never would have happened" if he had been president at the time of Russia's month, Trump told the BBC that he was "disappointed" by grew and Trump set a 8 August deadline for Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire or face more severe US sanctions. As the deadline hit, Trump instead announced he and Putin would meet in person on 15 August. The meeting comes after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held "highly productive" talks with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, according to Trump. Is Ukraine attending the meeting? A White House official has said that Trump is willing to hold a trilateral meeting which would also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr for now, it remains a Trump-Putin summit, as initially requested by the Russian response to the news of the Alaska summit, Zelensky has said any agreements without input from Kyiv will amount to "dead decisions".And on Friday, after Trump said there would need to "be some swapping of territories" in order for Moscow and Kyiv to reach an agreement, Zelensky spoke out on Telegram."We will not reward Russia for what it has perpetrated," Zelensky wrote. "Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace."Speaking to Fox New on Sunday, US Vice-President JD Vance suggested that Zelensky could join Putin and Trump for talks at a later for now, he said it would not be "productive" for Zelensky to meet Putin ahead of Trump's meeting with the Russian leader in Alaska. "Fundamentally, the president of the United States has to be the one to bring these two together," he said. What do both sides hope to get out of it? The US president claimed on Friday that a deal "to stop the killing" is "very close". He also has reportedly floated some thoughts on what may be necessary for both sides to agree to stop the both Russia and Ukraine say they, too, want the war to end, both appear to want things that the other harshly opposes. Ukraine has been adamant that it won't accept Russian control of regions it seized, most notably Crimea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the idea outright. "There's nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution," he said. So far, Putin has not budged from his territorial demands, Ukraine's neutrality and the future size of its army. Russia invaded the country, in part, over Putin's belief that Ukraine was becoming westernised and accused the Western defensive alliance, Nato, of using the country to gain a foothold to bring its troops closer to Russia's borders. The Trump administration has been attempting to sway European leaders on a ceasefire deal that would hand over swathes of Ukrainian territory to Russia, the BBC's US partner CBS News deal would allow Russia to keep control of the Crimean peninsula, and take the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which is made up of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to sources familiar with the illegally occupied Crimea in 2014 and its forces control the majority of the Donbas the deal, Russia would have to give up the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where it currently has some military control."There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both," Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. Vance, in his Fox interview, said any future deal is "not going to make anybody super happy"."You've got to make peace here… you can't finger point," he said. "The way to peace is to have a decisive leader to sit down and force people to come together." Where will Trump and Putin meet? On Friday evening, Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social that a "highly anticipated meeting" between him and Putin would take place on 15 August in the "great state of Alaska". "Further details to follow," he said. Trump had said the meeting location would be "a very popular one for a number of reasons". The exact location of their meeting in Alaska has not been released. Why did they choose a US site? The US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, giving a historical significance to the presidential assistant Yuri Ushakov said the location is "quite logical" and that both countries are neighbours, with the Bering Strait dividing them. "It seems quite logical for our delegation simply to fly over the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska."The last time Alaska took centre stage in an American diplomatic event was in March 2021, when Joe Biden's newly minted diplomatic and national security team met their Chinese counterparts in sit-down turned acrimonious, with the Chinese accusing the Americans of "condescension and hypocrisy". ANALYSIS: Why Trump-Putin relationship has souredEXPLAINER: Why did Putin's Russia invade Ukraine?VISUALS: Tracking the war in mapsGLOBAL FALLOUT: How the global economy could be impactedVERIFY: Russian attacks on Ukraine double since Trump inaugurationGROUND REPORT: On Ukraine's front line, twisted wreckage shows sanctions haven't yet stopped Russia
The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Confusion over the Alaska summit shows Vladimir Putin still calls the shots
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