The meeting will take place in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday.
Speaking on the eve of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump addressed the media and said that he believes Putin is ready to end the war in Ukraine. He added that peace would require a second meeting that includes the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In the lead-up to this sudden meeting between the two leaders, European leaders and Ukraine have attempted to make sure this meeting does not leave Ukraine in a vulnerable position.
A meeting between US officials and European leaders was set up to argue for Ukraine’s presence in any meeting that decides its future. Although these requests have not been met, the US has ensured that it will try to set up a second meeting that involves all three nations.
“I think President Putin will make peace, I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they get along,” Donald Trump said.
He also downplayed the impact of his Friday meeting and shifted focus to the second meeting, which is more likely to result in a ceasefire. He shared his plans to include Ukraine’s president along with a few EU leaders.
“I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelenskiy, myself, and maybe we'll bring some of the European leaders along. Maybe not. I don't know that,” Trump told reporters.
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In his televised comments on the upcoming meeting, Vladimir Putin said that the U.S. has been making “energetic and sincere” efforts to put an end to the war in Ukraine, to “reach reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.”
Speaking on the goal of the meeting, Putin said that it’s aimed “to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole - if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.”
According to a source from Kremlin, the meeting will also discuss the potential business ties between Russia and the U.S.
A senior Eastern European official told Reuters that Putin would try and distract Trump from discussing the Ukraine war by offering him other incentives.
“We hope Trump won't be fooled by the Russians; he understands all (these) dangerous things," the official said, adding that Russia's only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted.”
According to Trump, there is a planned press conference that will take place after the meeting on Friday. However, Putin’s presence is not guaranteed. He had also said that there would be a “give and take” of territories between the two warring nations and threatened “severe consequences” if a peace agreement is not reached.
