Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding any territory to Russia, just hours after Washington and Moscow confirmed a high-profile summit aimed at ending the three-year war.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet on August 15 in Alaska, the U.S. state closest to Russia, for talks the Kremlin says will focus on a “long-term peaceful settlement” to the conflict.
Announcing the meeting on Friday, Trump hinted at “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia, without elaborating.
Zelensky rejected the idea, writing on social media: “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. The war cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian leader said Kyiv was prepared for “real decisions” that could bring peace, but stressed such a settlement must be “dignified.”
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, more than 10 million people have been displaced and tens of thousands killed.
Multiple negotiation rounds between Moscow and Kyiv this year have failed, with Putin refusing to meet Zelensky and Kyiv insisting on being part of any final deal.
The Alaska summit will be the first face-to-face meeting between a sitting U.S. and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.
The Kremlin has called the location “logical” given the state’s proximity to Russia and overlapping economic interests in the Arctic.
Moscow has invited Trump to visit Russia in the future, signaling a possible thaw in U.S.-Russia ties despite continued fighting along Ukraine’s 1,000-kilometer frontline.
News360 Info reported earlier that, Putin spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both of whom have floated their own peace proposals with little traction.
The discussions come as Washington increases economic pressure on Moscow, including new tariffs targeting India over its purchases of Russian oil.
Meanwhile, hostilities continued Saturday. Ukraine reported that a Russian strike hit a bus carrying civilians in the southern city of Kherson, killing two people and injuring six, amid overnight drone attacks on both sides.
