Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that “decisions without Ukraine” will not bring peace, rejecting any suggestion of ceding territory to Russia ahead of a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15.
Announcing the meeting on Friday, Trump said there would be “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia, without providing details. The comment sparked swift backlash from Kyiv, with Zelensky vowing, “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier. Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace. They will achieve nothing.” He added that the war “cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine.”
The Alaska summit will mark the first face-to-face talks between sitting U.S. and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. The Kremlin described the location as “logical,” citing the state’s shared border with Russia and “intersecting economic interests.” Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867, a fact Zelensky referenced wryly, calling it “very far away from this war, which is raging on our land, against our people.”
Zelensky has long pushed for a three-way summit, saying a meeting with Putin is the only way to make progress toward peace. The Kremlin has ruled out such talks for now. Moscow’s position is echoed by its refusal to agree to multiple U.S., European, and Ukrainian calls for a ceasefire.
The war, now in its third year, has claimed tens of thousands of lives since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, forcing millions from their homes. Three rounds of direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia this year have failed to yield results.
Meanwhile, fighting continues along the more than 1,000-kilometre frontline. Overnight, Russia and Ukraine exchanged dozens of drone strikes, and in the southern Kherson region, a bus carrying civilians was hit, killing two and injuring six.
Ahead of the summit, Putin held talks with the leaders of China and India. Trump has sought to broker peace since returning to office but has yet to secure a breakthrough. Earlier this year, he imposed an additional tariff on India over its purchases of Russian oil and threatened similar measures against China to pressure Moscow into negotiations.
Despite the tensions, Moscow has invited Trump to visit Russia later this year. The two leaders last met in person at the 2019 G20 summit in Japan and have spoken by phone several times since January.
