US President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to reach a settlement to end the conflict in Ukraine. This was a day prior to the meeting between the two leaders in Anchorage.
This comment was made after Putin had suggested that a possible nuclear weapons agreement could be reached before the summit.
This week, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has intensified diplomatic efforts with European leaders to make sure that any agreement reached in the US-Russia discussions does not leave Ukraine open to further attacks.
In a Fox News interview, Trump said that he believed Putin would be willing to reach a compromise.
If the meeting on Friday went well, Zelenskiy said he’d call Zelenskiy as well as European leaders afterward.
He said that if it didn’t go well, then he wouldn’t make these calls.
Trump said that Friday’s meeting was about arranging a second gathering that included Ukraine.
He did not anticipate an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Putin’s comments on the summit
Putin told senior security and ministerial officials that the US is making sincere and energetic efforts to stop hostilities and resolve the crisis and come up with agreements for the benefit of everyone.
If further progress in the control of strategic offensive weapons is made, he said, such measures could create long-term security between Russia and the US as well as globally.
Trump announced that a joint press conference will follow the Friday talks. However, he did not specify if this would happen.
The discussion will involve a lot of give and take on land boundaries.
He compared the meeting to the beginning of a long process and said that there were 25% chances it wouldn’t succeed.
He said that any deal would need to be reached by Putin and Zelenskiy.
Concerns about Kyiv, Europe
Russia controls approximately one fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Zelenskiy, along with European officials, fear that an agreement could cement these gains and reward Putin for his efforts over the past decade to seize Ukrainian territory and encourage further expansion in Europe.
The first meeting between the US and Russia since June 2020 will take place on Friday.
This is one of the most difficult times for Ukraine, since Russia invaded on a full scale in February 2022. The conflict has caused tens and thousands of deaths as well as millions of displaced people.
The post Trump Says Putin May Be Ready to Strike Ukraine Deal Ahead of Alaska Summit may be updated as new developments unfold
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