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Whether an agreement will be reached between Trump and Putin remains entirely open, but the US President was initially very vague...
It could be a historic meeting: US President Donald Trump has invited Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to a summit on Ukraine. The two leaders plan to meet next Friday (August 15) in the US state of Alaska.
Trump is portraying the summit as an attempt to end the war in Ukraine or at least bring the fighting to a close. At Putin's behest, Russia has been waging a devastating war of aggression against its neighbor for nearly three and a half years. A ceasefire or even a peace agreement has been nowhere in sight recently.
Whether a deal will be reached between Trump and Putin remains entirely open. Trump himself was initially very vague. However, he told reporters at the White House that the warring parties were close to a ceasefire agreement, which could require the surrender of Ukrainian territory. "There will be a territory swap that benefits both sides," Trump said. Such a deal would clearly be to the detriment of Kiev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, refuses to hear of any such thing. He continues to categorically reject the territorial concessions emerging in Russia and the US plans to end the war in Ukraine. "The answer to Ukraine's territorial issues is contained in the Ukrainian constitution," he said in a video message on Saturday, adding "no one will deviate from this and no one can deviate from it. Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier."
In fact, according to media reports, Putin has reportedly demanded that Russia at least gain full control over the eastern regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk. This would mean that the Ukrainian military would surrender several thousand square kilometers of territory and strategically important cities.
According to a report by the Bloomberg news agency, a possible deal to end the war in Ukraine would legitimize Russia's occupation of occupied territories. A White House official described the report as speculation. The Kremlin was not immediately available for comment.
The Russian government recently called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Conditions for this included Ukraine's renunciation of NATO membership and the relinquishment of territories annexed by Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has so far categorically rejected giving up the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea, which Russia annexed in 2014, as well as the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, which are partially controlled by Moscow.
Zelensky also criticized the location of the meeting between Trump and Putin. "A long way from this war that is being waged in our country, against our people, and which cannot end without us, without Ukraine," Zelensky said.
Previously, there had been speculation that the meeting could take place on neutral ground, in the Vatican or the United Arab Emirates.
Now things are different. Trump is the host, Putin is the guest. / Adapted from Fr.de /
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