WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Alaska on August 15 to discuss ways to end the three-year war in Ukraine.
The meeting which Trump announced on his Truth Social platform was also confirmed by a Kremlin press officials, who said the location was “quite logical” given Alaska’s relative proximity to Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said any talks to find solutions must include his country, adding he is ready to work with all partners towards a “lasting peace”.
The announcement of the meeting came just hours after Trump had signalled that Ukraine might have to cede territory in order to end the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
“It’s very complicated. But we’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, but we’ll be talking about that either later or tomorrow,” he said.
Ukraine and its European allies have long opposed any agreement that involves ceding occupied territory – including Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – to Russia.
But Putin has repeatedly said that any deal must require Ukraine to relinquish some of the territories Russia has seized since 2014.
