Ahead of the meeting between Trump and Putin, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy warned that any decision without Ukraine would be a"decision against peace." He once again clearly rejected any possible territorial cessions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned ahead of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin against making decisions without Ukraine."Every decision against us, every decision without Ukraine, is also a decision against peace," Zelenskyy declared.
Trump will meet with Putin on August 15 – next Friday – to negotiate the terms for peace in Ukraine. The meeting will take place in the US state of Alaska, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform.
The Kremlin confirmed the meeting and subsequently invited Trump to Russia. Trump and Putin have not met in person since 2019.
Trump once wanted to end the war"within 24 hours"
During the election campaign, Trump repeatedly announced that he could end the war"within 24 hours." Since returning to the White House in January, he has spoken with his Russian counterpart several times by phone. Most recently, he issued Moscow an ultimatum to end the war against Ukraine. This ultimatum expired on Friday—the very day Trump announced his meeting with Putin.
Regarding the choice of Alaska as a location, Zelenskyy said:"Very far away from this war that is raging in our country, against our people, and which cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine."
Zelenskyy: "We will not give land to occupiers"
Zelenskyy also again rejected territorial concessions, which are emerging in Russian and US plans to end the war against Ukraine."The answer to Ukraine's territorial issues is contained in Ukraine's Constitution. No one will deviate from it, and no one can deviate from it," he said in a video message."Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier."
According to media reports, before the meeting with Trump, Putin demanded that Russia gain full control over the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. This would mean the Ukrainian army surrendering several thousand square kilometers of territory and strategically important cities.
In Luhansk, the Ukrainian defenders only hold a few square kilometers. Russia occupied large parts of the region in 2014 and renamed them people's republics. In the fiercely contested Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army still controls a quarter of the area.
The Russian army is advancing gradually, but at a high cost. A withdrawal would mean that Ukraine would have to abandon the chain of well-fortified towns of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Kostiantynivka, leaving it defenseless.
Trump:"It's really not easy"
Trump had previously told journalists at the White House that the parties to the conflict were close to reaching a ceasefire agreement, which could require the cession of Ukrainian territory.
"There will be some exchange of territory for the benefit of both sides," Trump said."It's complicated, really not easy," Trump continued. He didn't provide details."We're looking at territory that has been contested for three and a half years." Something should also be given back, Trump said.
These could be small bridgeheads of the Russian army in the Ukrainian front-line areas of Sumy and Kharkiv. Russian soldiers also appear to have crossed the border into the Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine claims to still have soldiers stationed in the Russian Kursk region as a remnant of a 2024 offensive.
According to a report by the Bloomberg news agency, a potential agreement would formalize the occupation of the territories conquered by Moscow. A White House official described the report as speculation.
Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov had previously stated that at the meeting next week, the two presidents would"undoubtedly focus on discussing options for a long-term peaceful solution to the Ukraine crisis."
