WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (Aug 16) Ukraine should agree a deal to end the war with Russia because “Russia is a very big power, and they’re not”, after holding a summit with President Vladimir Putin that failed to yield a ceasefire.
In a major shift, Trump also said he had agreed with Putin that the best way to end the war was to go straight to a peace settlement – not via a ceasefire, as Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have been demanding.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would travel to Washington on Monday to discuss next steps, while Kyiv’s European allies welcomed Trump’s efforts but vowed to back Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia, and again urged the US to offer security guarantees for Ukraine.
Trump met Putin for nearly three hours in Alaska on Friday at the first US-Russia summit since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,” Trump posted on Truth social.
RUSSIA LIKELY TO WELCOME TRUMP’S UKRAINE SHIFT
That statement will be welcomed in Moscow, which says it wants a full settlement – not a pause – but that this will be complex because positions are “diametrically opposed”.
Russia’s forces have been gradually advancing for months. The war – the deadliest in Europe for 80 years – has killed or wounded well over a million people from both sides, including thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians, according to analysts.
Before the summit, Trump had said he would not be happy unless a ceasefire was agreed on. But afterwards he said that, after his talks with Zelenskyy, “if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin”.
Monday’s talks will be held in the White House Oval Office, where Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave the Ukrainian leader a brutal public dressing-down in February, accusing him of ingratitude.
Zelenskyy said after a lengthy conversation with Trump following the Alaska summit that he supported the idea of a three-way meeting.
“Ukraine reaffirms its readiness to work with maximum effort to achieve peace,” he wrote on social media.
But Putin made no mention of meeting Zelenskyy when speaking to reporters. His aide Yuri Ushakov told the Russian state news agency TASS a three-way summit had not been discussed.
NEED FOR SECURITY GUARANTEES FOR UKRAINE
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump signalled that he and Putin had discussed potential land swaps and security guarantees for Ukraine.
“I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on,” Trump said.
“I think we’re pretty close to a deal,” he said, adding: “Ukraine has to agree to it. Maybe they’ll say no.”
When asked by Hannity what he would advise Zelenskyy, Trump said: “Gotta make a deal.”
“Look, Russia is a very big power, and they’re not. They’re great soldiers,” he added.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly underlined the importance of security guarantees for Kyiv as part of any deal, to deter Russia from launching a new invasion at some point in the future.
“We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine’s security,” he said after his call with Trump.
Before the summit, Trump had set the goal of agreeing on a ceasefire in the war and said he would not be happy without it.
Putin signalled no movement in Russia’s long-held positions on the war, but said he agreed with Trump that Ukraine’s security must be “ensured”.
“We are ready to work on this. I would like to hope that the understanding we have reached will allow us to get closer to that goal and open the way to peace in Ukraine,” Putin said at a brief media appearance after the summit where neither leader took questions.
He added: “We expect that Kyiv and the European capitals will perceive all of this in a constructive manner and will not create any obstacles. That they will not attempt to disrupt the emerging progress through provocation or behind-the-scenes intrigue.”
For Putin, the very fact of sitting down face-to-face with the US president represented a diplomatic victory. The Kremlin leader had been ostracised by Western leaders since the start of the war, and just a week earlier had been facing a threat of new sanctions from Trump.
