The US President Donald Trump said there was a "very high probability" of meeting with Putin and Zelensky after his summit with the Kremlin leader on August 15 in the state of Alaska.
The words of the American leader are reported by SkyNews and The Guardian.
The president says the second meeting will likely take place after his bilateral meeting with the Kremlin leader in Alaska on August 15, where he wants to find out "where we are and what we are doing".
"And we will have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelensky and myself, if they want to invite me, and it will be a meeting where maybe everything will be resolved, but... some important things can be achieved in the first [meeting], it will be a very important meeting, but it is preparation for the second meeting," Trump said.
The US president added that he would like to do this "almost immediately", but the second meeting will not take place unless he gets the answers he needs.
At the same time, he rated todayʼs online meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders "a 10" and called it a good conversation.
What Trump said about the consequences for Russia if it refuses to cease fire
Trump also said that “there will be serious consequences” if Russia does not agree to end the war. Asked whether Russia will face consequences for not moving toward a peace deal on Ukraine, Donald Trump replied: “Yes, there will be”. He has repeatedly set Russia a deadline for a ceasefire and threatened “tough sanctions”. However, he has never imposed any restrictions, despite Russia ignoring all deadlines and demands.
Trump also said that he would not be able to convince Putin to stop attacking civilians in Ukraine because he had already had similar conversations, but after them he saw new attacks.
What preceded
The Wall Street Journal reported that on August 6, Putin presented the Trump administration with a proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine. In the first phase, Ukraine would withdraw its troops from the Donetsk region and freeze the front line. In the second phase, Putin and Trump would agree on a final peace plan, which would then be discussed with Zelensky.
A WSJ source says that Putin called for a halt to the war on the current lines in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
European partners and Ukraine responded to Putinʼs plan with a counter-proposal on August 9. It states that the parties must achieve a ceasefire before any other steps can be taken.
And the exchange of territories can only be carried out on a reciprocal basis, meaning that if Ukraine withdraws troops from some regions, Russia must withdraw troops from others. Ukraineʼs territorial concessions must be protected by security guarantees, including potential NATO membership.
"Ukrainians will not give away their land," said President Zelensky in response to the announcement of the Trump-Putin meeting. He emphasized that the Ukrainian Constitution has a clear answer about territories.
Later, the president added that Ukraine will not withdraw troops from the unoccupied part of Donbas, because this is a springboard for a future new Russian offensive. So in a few years, Putin will have an open path to Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as well as Kharkiv.
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