- Trump and Putin will be meeting in Alaska on Friday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine; Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has not been invited.
- President Trump will have a virtual meeting with European leaders, including Zelenskyy, on Wednesday.
- European leaders say that meaningful negotiations cannot be held without a ceasefire first.
A summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been scheduled for Friday, and U.S. officials are working to prepare for and finalize the details of the meeting meant to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting will take place in Alaska, but a venue for the summit has not yet been announced. Officials from the Trump administration are traveling to the state to scope out locations, per CNN. Alaska was selected for its centrality to Moscow and Washington, D.C.
“Next Friday will be important, because it will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end,” said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, according to CNN.
Trump hopes that this face-to-face meeting with the Russian president will lead to the breakthrough in ending the war that he has been looking for since taking office in January.
Will Zelenskyy be involved in Friday’s summit?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested to be a part of the talks, a request which both the White House and Kremlin have acknowledged but no formal invitation has been extended, per Fox News. If Zelenskyy were invited, it would be the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
BBC reported that when responding to news of the summit in Alaska, Zelenskyy said any agreements made without Ukrainian input would be “dead decisions.”
According to NBC News, U.S. officials have said it is possible that Zelenskyy would be invited to the meeting, but the White House is focused on planning the bilateral meeting with Putin.
Ukrainian officials have indicated that their president is prepared to travel to Alaska if he receives an invite, per CNN.
“We have shown that he is ready to be anywhere to advance the agenda of peace. So, if needed, President Zelenskyy, of course, will be present at the meetings. We have been very open about it, but let’s see how this will go,” said the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova.
In an X post on Monday, Zelenskyy wrote that Russia deserves stronger global pressure since it is dragging out the war.
“Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits. And this is not just a moral position — it is a rational one. Concessions do not persuade a killer. But truly strong protection of life stops the killers,” he added.
In the same post, Zelenskyy also thanked leaders and others from around the world who have been helping and supporting Ukraine.
“I thank everyone in the world who helps us remain strong and who brings closer a genuine peace — peace through strength. This is the only kind of peace that can be achieved with Russia. We are working toward it 24/7,” he wrote.
The possibility of territory concession will be a major part of the meeting
In a statement on Saturday, the Kremlin said that the summit is expected to “focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful resolution” in Ukraine. “This will evidently be a challenging process, but we will engage in it actively and energetically,” according to Fox News.
Trump has previously said that in order for Putin to agree to a ceasefire deal, Ukraine would have to concede significant territory to Russia, an outcome opposed by Ukrainians and many European allies, per Fox News.
Currently, Russian forces occupy approximately one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory stretching from the Russian border to Crimea. This includes areas vital to Ukraine’s economy, rich in minerals, industry and home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
Trump did say he will try to get some territory back for Ukraine during his meeting in Alaska on Friday, according to BBC.
“Russia’s occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We’re going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine,” he told a news conference.
The U.S. president also said the Alaska talks would be a “feel-out meeting” with the goal of urging Putin to end the war.
“We’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched,” Trump said, per The New York Times. “There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.”
According to BBC, this is not the first time Trump has used the phrase “land-swapping,” but it is unclear what land Russia could give to Ukraine, since Kyiv has never laid claim to any Russian territories.
Trump did share that he would update leaders in Europe if Putin proposes a “fair deal” during the summit, but added that he would speak to Zelenskyy first, “out of respect.”
“I’ll call him first. ... I’ll call him after, and I may say, ‘lots of luck, keep fighting,’ or I may say, ‘we can make a deal,’” Trump said, per BBC.
What Putin could be looking to get out of the meeting with Trump
Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, said Putin would come into the summit on Friday pursuing various scenarios, according to The New York Times.
These scenarios include making a favorable deal with Trump that the U.S. is able to force on Ukraine, or making a favorable deal with Trump that Ukraine refuses causing the U.S. to walk away from Ukraine.
The third option Gabuev listed is that Putin continues on his current path for the next 12 to 18 months, expecting that Ukraine will run out of soldiers sooner than the Russian war economy runs out of steam, per The New York Times.
While Putin is looking for Ukraine to concede territory currently occupied by Russia, he is also looking for other things in an agreement. Putin wants a formal promise that Ukraine will not enter NATO or another Western military alliance, and that Ukraine will not host Western troops on its territory or be allowed to build a military that would threaten Russia.
These agreements would make Kyiv perpetually vulnerable, per The New York Times.
What European leaders have said about the meeting
On Saturday, a group of military leaders released a statement which welcomed the Trump-Putin meeting but emphasized the need to keep pressure on Russia and protect Ukraine and Europe’s security interests, per NBC News.
“We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force,” the statement said.
The statement came from the leaders of Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Finland and Poland as well as European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen. It said that meaningful negotiations could only take place if there is a ceasefire or reduction of hostilities first, adding that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” according to NBC News.
The idea that Ukraine must be involved in discussions about its future was also brought up by European officials during a meeting with Vice President JD Vance over the weekend.
“The U.S. has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously,” said European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, according to Fox News. “Any deal between the U.S. and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine’s and the whole of Europe’s security.”
Trump to meet with European leaders ahead of summit with Putin
Politico reported on Monday that Trump will be joining European leaders, including Zelenskyy, on Wednesday for an emergency virtual summit.
The call was organized by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to prelude Trump’s meeting with Putin on Friday.
The virtual summit is expected to focus on pressure options against Russia, security guarantees for Ukraine, questions about Ukrainian territories seized by Russia and the sequencing of potential peace talks, according to Politico.