Trump, Putin meets in Alaska for peace discussions in Ukraine without Zelensky
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was sidelined by peace talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday because the Russian chief extended the invitation to meet, according to the White House.
“The president accepts this meeting, at the request of President Putin,” the journalists of the white house press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday. “And the objective of this meeting for the president is to leave with a better understanding of how we can put an end to this war.”
“I think that the President of the United States puts himself in the room with the president of Russia, sitting face to face rather than speaking on the phone will give this president the best indication of how to put an end to this war and where it is heading,” said Leavitt.
Vladimir Putin return home for the first time in a decade
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the right, and President Donald Trump, speak while attending the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican, April 26, 2025. (Ukrainian presidential press office via AP))
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has remained firm that any decision to end the war taken without Ukraine will prove to be futile.
“All the decisions made against us, all decisions made without Ukraine – these are simultaneously decisions against peace,” Zelenskyy said in a press release on Saturday. “These are dead decisions; they will never work. And what we all need is a real living peace, the one that people will respect.”
Other European allies have the back of Ukraine. A group of European leaders published a statement on Saturday claiming that the “path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine”.
Trump told journalists on Monday that he predicted that he could in a few minutes whether Putin was serious about his agreement or not. He also recognized that Russia and Ukraine should sail on “land exchanging” problems in the context of an agreement.
The summit with Putin is put at the top of Trump’s agenda this week while the Ukrainian war occupies the front of the stage
President Donald Trump speaks with journalists from the James Brady Press news room in the White House on August 11, 2025. (Alex Brandon / The Associated Press)
Trump also said he would be in contact with Zelenskyy and other European leaders after meeting Putin.
“If it is a good deal, I will reveal it to the leaders of the European Union and the leaders of NATO and also to President Zelenskyy,” said Trump. “I can say:” A lot of luck, keep fighting “, or I can say that we can conclude an agreement.”
When asked if the meeting would open the way to a peace agreement, or if the meeting would simply be used for Trump to feel if an agreement was even possible, Leavitt said that the administration was not crushing any of the options.
Trump, Putin will hold the first meeting in person since the invasion of Ukraine next week in Alaska
President Donald Trump, on the left, and Russian president Vladimir Putin serve his hand at the start of a meeting at the presidential palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / The Associated Press)
“I think the two can be true, right?” Said Leavitt. “The president has always said that he wanted a peace agreement. He wants to see this war end. But this bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between part of this war with two parties.
Trump and Putin should meet in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday – despite the president’s comments in recent days that the two would meet in Russia.
“There have been many sites discussed, but of course, Alaska is a state in the United States of America,” said Leavitt. “The president is therefore very honored and is eager to welcome President Putin to American soil.”
