White House: Donald Trump open to summit with Putin and Zelensky

A White House official said U.S. President Donald Trump is ready to host a three-way summit in Alaska with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Reuters did not identify or identify the official cited. The source emphasized, however, that the White House is currently preparing a bilateral meeting between Trump and Putin at the Russian leader's request.

On Friday, the US president announced that he would meet with Putin on Friday, August 15th, in Alaska. This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Trump began his second term. On Saturday, US broadcasters CBS News and NBC News reported that the White House did not rule out the possibility of Zelenskyy also participating in the Alaska summit in an unspecified capacity.

On Saturday evening, the leaders of six European countries, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, issued a joint statement on Ukraine. They emphasized that they "remain committed to the principle that international borders cannot be changed by force."

The document, announced by the office of the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, was signed by von der Leyen, Tusk and the head of the British government, as well as the Prime Ministers of Italy - Giorgia Meloni, Germany - Friedrich Merz, and the Presidents of Finland - Alexander Stubb and France - Emmanuel Macron.

The signatories of the statement also stated that "the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be determined without the participation of Kyiv."

CNN: Trump-Putin summit in Alaska looks like a slow-burn defeat for Ukraine

The summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska, scheduled for August 15, looks like a slow-burning defeat for Ukraine, CNN reported. It said the circumstances of Friday's summit are favorable for Moscow.

Alaska, which the United States purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million, will become the place where Putin will try to sell his "territorial deal of the century," CNN reported on Saturday. According to the website, the Russian leader will want Kyiv to return to Russia parts of the territory that Russian forces have not yet been able to capture.

CNN wrote that the circumstances of Friday's summit were favorable for Moscow, and it was obvious why Putin seized the opportunity to meet with Trump after months of sham negotiations. It's difficult to imagine that an agreement that wouldn't weaken Ukraine would emerge from bilateral talks, the news outlet emphasized. He added that Kyiv and its European allies reacted with dismay to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff's proposal that Ukraine hand over uncontrolled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to Russia in exchange for a ceasefire. According to CNN, the envoy has previously demonstrated a relaxed attitude toward Ukrainian sovereignty and Moscow's demands that Ukraine simply return cities for which thousands of its soldiers died.

The website emphasized that Russia is close to encircling two key cities in the Donetsk region – Pokrovsk and Konstantinivka. It did not rule out that Ukraine might withdraw from them in the coming months to conserve forces in the face of a possible siege.

The outlook for the rest of Donetsk Oblast, primarily the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, is bleaker, as thousands of civilians live there. Moscow would be delighted to see scenes of evacuation as Russian troops enter these cities without firing a shot, CNN reported.

Trump on Friday claimed that an agreement to end the war in Ukraine was close, suggesting it involved a "territorial exchange." What could Ukraine gain from this "exchange?" CNN wondered. He explained that it might involve strips of border territories occupied by Russia in the Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, but little else.

The main goal of the talks scheduled for August 15th is a ceasefire in Ukraine. However, Putin has long maintained that an immediate ceasefire, which Ukraine, the United States, and Europe have been demanding for months, is impossible because work related to monitoring compliance with the ceasefire and logistics must first be completed, CNN noted. The Russian leader is unlikely to change his mind, as his forces are gaining the upper hand on the eastern front, the website reported.

Putin made it clear from the outset that he wanted the subjugation or occupation of all of Ukraine and a strategic "reset" in relations with the U.S. His advisor, Yuri Ushakov, spoke of Alaska as an excellent venue for talks on economic cooperation between Washington and Moscow and suggested that a proposal had already been made to hold the next summit in Russia.

CNN wrote that we could be witnessing cordial relations between Trump and Putin. Meetings between the two politicians' staff members could follow, discussing the details of a possible ceasefire. "A plan for a territorial exchange or takeover, fully beneficial to Moscow, could be presented to Kyiv, and the old US ultimatum (to Ukraine - PAP) regarding aid and intelligence sharing (...) would be contingent on Kyiv accepting the (ceasefire - PAP) agreement," the portal predicted. "Then French President Emmanuel Macron would call Trump again and everything would start over. Putin needs more time to continue his conquests, and he will soon get it," CNN warned.

The website did not rule out that the talks could also have some positive effects, but "the stage is set for something more sinister."

"Let's take a moment to examine Putin's thinking. Trump's third sanctions threat has dissipated, and Russian forces are entering a period of strategic gains on the front. (Putin) received his first invitation to the U.S. in 10 years to talk about peace in Ukraine without Ukraine, to discuss a deal that would prevent him from even having to fight for the remaining territory he desires," CNN wrote. He noted that this was happening "even before the former KGB spy began to charm Trump."

There are a few days left until the meeting, but even from the current perspective, "it looks like a slow defeat for Ukraine," the website concluded.

From Washington, Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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