Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky downplayed the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that any peace deal reached without Ukraine’s involvement would result in “dead solutions.”
In a statement posted on Telegram, Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine’s territorial integrity is non-negotiable. He said the country "will not give Russia any awards for what it has done" and that "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier." A recent Wall Street Journal report revealed that Putin had presented the Trump administration with a cease-fire proposal that would involve major territorial concessions to Russia.
Regarding the planned Trump-Putin summit, Zelensky said, “Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work." Trump and Putin are expected to meet in Alaska on August 15. A White House official told CBS News the summit could still include Zelensky in some capacity, as the meeting's plans are not set.
Trump has expressed willingness to meet with both leaders and suggested he might begin by meeting with Putin alone. He told reporters he believes "we have a shot at" arranging a meeting with both Ukrainian and Russian leaders present. Trump also indicated that a peace agreement would likely include "some swapping of territories.”
The planned Trump-Putin meeting would mark Putin’s first meeting with a US president since his June 2021 summit with Joe Biden, just eight months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"It seems entirely logical for our delegation to fly across the Bering Strait simply, and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska," Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Saturday.
