Negotiations between United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska did not result in a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though Trump claimed they had “made some headway”.
The two leaders did not disclose the full details of their discussions. While Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not invited to the summit, he will meet with Trump alongside European leaders tomorrow.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on,” said Trump of the summit. “I would say a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite got there, but we’ve made some headway.”
“We were able to win the following concession: that the United States could offer Article Five-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in NATO,” according to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. NATO’s Article Five requires its members to defend any NATO country that is under attack.
Putin told Trump that Russia would halt its advances if Ukraine ceded the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as Russian-occupied territory in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out ceding land to Russia.
Zelenskyy spoke to Trump after the summit, saying all prisoners of war and civilians captured by Russia must be returned and that the U.S. must strengthen sanctions on Russia if it does not agree to a trilateral meeting with Zelenskyy present.
“All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine’s participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine,” wrote Zelenskyy.
Trump said that he supported Zelenskyy and Putin holding direct talks, with U.S. and European officials potentially present. Putin has suggested Trump could meet with Russian officials in Moscow.
The summit was the first time Putin had visited the U.S. since 2015. Putin advisor Yuri Ushakov said Russia would also discuss economic cooperation with the U.S. at the summit, though no information on these conversations has been released.
Russia launched a ballistic missile into southeastern Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region hours before the summit began, meanwhile. Ukraine said it had destroyed a Russian supply ship carrying drone equipment and ammunition sent from Iran, and pushed Russian forces back by around two kilometres on the northern frontlines.
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