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Volodymyr Zelensky looks set to be left out of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's summit on Friday. The leaders will meet in Alaska - a former Russian territory - after three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine that have failed to bring the sides closer to peace. It will mark the Russian president's first trip to the US since 2015, when he visited for the UN General Assembly in New York.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin after the illegal invasion of Ukraine was launched. However, as the US is not a member, it's under no obligation to arrest him on the accusations of war crimes. There were initial suggestions that the Ukrainian president might also be involved, but this was quickly shot down after both countries confirmed the meeting between Mr Trump and Putin only.
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Putin said last week he wasn’t against meeting Mr Zelensky, "but certain conditions need to be created" for it to happen and were "still a long way off".
Moscow has presented ceasefire conditions that Kyiv refused, such as withdrawing troops from the four regions Russia illegally annexed in 2022, halting mobilisation efforts, or freezing Western arms deliveries.
Putin also demands Kyiv cede the illegally annexed regions, even though Russia doesn’t fully control them, and Crimea, renounce a bid to join NATO, limit the size of its armed forces, and recognise Russian as an official language along with Ukrainian.
Despite Mr Zelensky maintaining that "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier", Mr Trump said there will be "some land swapping going on".
He said: "There’ll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody. To the good, for the good of Ukraine. Good stuff, not bad stuff. Also, some bad stuff for both."
The US president also claimed he would be able to determine whether Putin was serious about peace within "the first two minutes" of their meeting.
He said on Monday: "At the end of that meeting, probably the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made."
The Republican said he thought Friday’s summit would be "really a feel-out meeting". He added that "it’ll be good, but it might be bad" and predicted he may say, "Lots of luck, keep fighting. Or I may say, we can make a deal".
Mr Trump also avoided saying he would push for Mr Zelensky to take part in the discussions, and was dismissive of the Ukrainian president's need to be involved.
However, he said that after his meeting with Putin, "The next meeting will be with Zelensky and Putin", but it could also be a meeting with "Putin and Zelensky and me".
English (US) · 