US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he will try to recover some of Ukraine's territory at his Friday's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, BBC News reports.
“Russia has occupied much of Ukraine. They have occupied the most valuable territory. We will try to recover some of this territory for Ukraine,” said the Republican leader, in a press conference at the White House.
Trump said that the discussions in Alaska will be a “polling meeting” meant to urge Putin to put an end to the war and that “some exchanges, territorial changes” will take place.
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This is not the first time that the US president uses the expression “exchange of territories”, although it is not clear what territories Moscow could give in. Kiev has never claimed Russian territories.
Trump also said he would inform European leaders if Putin proposes a “fair agreement” in the negotiations, adding that he will first talk to the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelenski, “out of respect.”
“I will call him first … I will call him afterwards and I will probably say” good luck, continue to fight “or” we can reach an agreement “,” said the head of the White House.
Trump also said that, although he and Zelenski “understand each other well”, “he does not agree with what he has done.” Trump previously accused Zelenski for the Ukraine war, which broke out after the large -scale Russian invasion of February 2022.
The American leader announced the meeting with a little last Friday, the day the deadline for imposed for Moscow to accept an armistice, otherwise to face new sanctions from the US.
In response to the information about the Alaska summit, Zelenski said that any agreements without Kiev's contribution would be “dead decisions”.
Who will Trump discuss before meeting with Putin
The US President will have discussions with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski on Wednesday, August 13, the Press Office of the European Commission for the Ukrainian publication The Kyiv Independent said on Monday.
The discussions will take place two days before Trump's scheduled meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which will be their first face -to -face meeting since Trump's return.
The summit takes place in the context in which Washington is trying to mediate a potential solution to the Ukraine war.
In a diplomatic effort coordinated before the discussions, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz organized an online meeting between Zelenski and key European leaders. The meeting is scheduled for 3:00 pm, Kiev time, on August 13.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will participate in the telephone calls together with “other EU leaders, President Zelenski and President Trump,” confirmed the Commission spokesman, Guillaume Mercier, for the publication in Kiev.
It is expected that leaders in Finland, France, UK, Italy and Poland will join, together with a NATO representative, wrote the Sighne publication.
Moscow has steadily rejected the US proposal to cease unconditional fire, supported by Kiev and European countries, intensifying drones and missiles against Ukraine throughout the summer.
On Friday, August 8, Trump announced a summit with Putin and, according to some information, told Ukraine and European leaders that the Kremlin is open to negotiations if the “Territory exchange” is part of the agreement.
Although it is not clear what would involve such an agreement, a source of the Presidency of Ukraine has stated, for The Kyiv Independent, that Moscow wants the full withdrawal of Kiev from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, partially occupied, offering the withdrawal of its forces from the limited areas it controls in the SUM and Kharkov regions.
Zelenski's participation in the following summite remains uncertain, which feeds the concerns of Ukraine and Europe that Washington and Moscow could marginalize them in the peace process.
Publicly, Putin called for the prohibition of Ukraine's accession to NATO and the complete withdrawal of Kiev from the partially occupied regions Donetsk, Luhansk, Herson and Zaporojie as prior conditions for peace negotiations.
For his part, Zelenski rejected the transfer of Ukrainian territories to Russia and asked for a first step towards peace negotiations, a position supported by Kiev's European partners.
