‘I’m not going to make a deal’ on Ukraine: Trump
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US President Donald Trump says he is not aiming for an agreement on the Ukraine war at his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I’m not going to make a deal. I think a deal should be made for both (sides),” he said at a press conference in Washington.
Trump said he would like to see a ceasefire and that Friday would be a “feel-out meeting” aimed at urging Putin to end the war.
The president said he will try to get some territory back for Ukraine during talks with the Russian president in Alaska.
“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 reporters.
Trump also said he wants Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet after the upcoming summit on Friday.
“The next meeting will be with Zelenskiy and Putin, or Zelenskiy, and Putin and me. I’ll be there if they need, but I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders,” Trump said.
Earlier European leaders and Zelenskiy said they would speak to Trump ahead of his summit with Putin, amid fears Washington may dictate unfavourable peace terms to Ukraine.
Ukraine and its European allies fear Trump, keen to claim credit for making peace and also hoping to seal lucrative joint business deals with Moscow, could align with Putin to cut a deal that would be deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv.
Germany said it was convening a series of top-level video conferences on Wednesday to prepare for the summit including one between European leaders, Zelenskiy, Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.
It will be the first time Zelenskiy and Trump have spoken since the Alaska summit was announced.
Zelenskiy said concessions to Moscow would not persuade it to stop fighting in Ukraine and that there was a need to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin.
“Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits,” Zelenskiy wrote on X.
Zelenskiy said Russia was preparing its troops for new offensives instead of getting ready to stop the war in Ukraine.
“He is certainly not getting ready for a ceasefire and war end,” he said in a nightly address.
Zelenskiy added, without providing any specifics, that Russia was moving its troops for new operations on Ukrainian soil.
He later held separate phone calls with the leaders of India and Saudi Arabia, which both have cordial ties with Moscow, in order to bolster international support for Kyiv’s position ahead of the Trump-Putin talks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said London supported Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine but believed Kyiv must be involved in any settlement on ending the fighting.
“We will never trust President Putin as far as you can throw him, but we will support Ukraine and President Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations,” Starmer’s spokesperson told reporters.
“Any peace must be built with Ukraine, not imposed upon it, and we will not reward aggression or compromise sovereignty.”
The Alaska meeting comes as Trump has hardened his stance towards Moscow, agreeing to allow additional US weapons to reach Ukraine and threatening tariffs against buyers of Russian oil.
Even so, the prospect of Trump hosting Putin, on US soil, in what will be the first meeting between leaders of the US and Russia since 2021, has revived fears that he might agree to a deal that forces big concessions from Kyiv.
with DPA and EFE
Reuters
