Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated this Saturday that Ukraine will not surrender its land to the invaders after learning the official date of the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set for August 15 in Alaska. The meeting will take place without the presence of the Ukrainian leader, who has repeatedly demanded a say in the matter. According to the US president, kyiv would have to make territorial concessions to end the conflict.
No decisions can be made against us, no decisions can be made without Ukraine. It would be a decision against peace, Zelensky warned in a video posted on his social media. Russia's large-scale offensive against Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has left tens of thousands dead and extensive damage. After more than three years of fighting, the positions of Kyiv and Moscow appear irreconcilable.
Trump, who has repeatedly promised to end the war in Ukraine, has spoken with the Russian president several times by phone in recent months but has not met with him since returning to the White House in January. This will be the first in-person meeting between the two since June 2019, during the Republican's first term (2017-2021), and the first time Putin has set foot on US soil since 2015, when Democrat Barack Obama was in office.
Moscow is demanding that Ukraine cede four partially occupied regions (Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson), as well as Crimea, annexed in 2014, and renounce Western arms supplies and any membership in NATO.
These demands are unacceptable to Kiev, which is demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory and Western security guarantees. This would include more arms supplies and the deployment of a European contingent, which Russia opposes. Ukraine, in coordination with its European allies, is also requesting a 30-day ceasefire, which Moscow rejects.
In his Friday address to the nation, Zelensky announced that he is holding talks with leaders from various countries and that his team is in constant contact with the United States.
