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President Trump and Putin will Meet in Alaska

11 August 2025 22:08 PM

NEWS DESK

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President Donald Trump said Friday he would meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in one week in Alaska, and suggested that an eventual deal between Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine could involve swapping territory. The Kremlin later confirmed the summit, calling the location "quite logical."

"The presidents themselves will undoubtedly focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in a statement posted on Telegram.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.

Putin held consultations Friday with the leaders of China and India ahead of the summit with Trump, who has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough.

"The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska," Trump said on his Truth Social site.

He said earlier at the White House that "there'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details.

EU foreign ministers will hold emergency talks on Monday to discuss their next steps before talks between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, as Europe fears any deal made
without Ukraine could force unacceptable compromises.

The two leaders will meet in the state of Alaska on Friday to try to resolve the three-year war but the European Union has insisted that Kyiv and European powers should be part of any deal to end the conflict.

The idea of a US-Russia meeting without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has raised concerns that a deal would require Kyiv to cede swathes of territory, which the EU has rejected.

EU foreign ministers will discuss their next steps in a meeting by video link on Monday at 1400 GMT, joined by their Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga. European leaders pushed hard over the weekend for Ukraine to be a part of the talks.

"The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine," leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain and Finland, and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement, urging Trump to put more pressure on Russia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday he hoped and assumed that Zelensky would attend the leaders' summit.

Leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden - also said no decisions should be taken without Kyiv's involvement.

Talks on ending the war could only take place during a ceasefire, they added in a joint statement. Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said the United States is working to
"schedule" a meeting between Trump and his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts.

Asked on CNN if Zelensky could be present, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker responded that "yes, I certainly think it's possible."

"Certainly, there can't be a deal that everybody that's involved in it doesn't agree to. And, I mean, obviously, it's a high priority to get this war to end."

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said any deal between the United States and Russia to end the war had to include Ukraine and the bloc. "The US has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously. Any deal between the US and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine's and the whole of Europe's security," she added.

As a prerequisite to any peace settlement, Moscow has demanded Kyiv pull its forces out of the regions and commit to being a neutral state, shun US and EU military support and be excluded from joining NATO.

Kyiv said it would never recognize Russian control over its sovereign territory, though it acknowledged that getting land captured by Russia back would have to come through diplomacy, not on the battlefield.

Zelensky thanked those countries backing Kyiv's position in his Sunday evening address. "Clear support for the fact that everything concerning Ukraine must be decided with Ukraine's participation. Just as it should be with every other independent state."

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