Trump says he will meet Putin next Friday in Alaska to discuss the end of Ukraine War and predicts “an exchange of territories”

Addressing the White House journalists after announcing a framework aimed at finishing decades of conflicts elsewhere in the world – between Armenia and Azerbaijan – Trump refused to say exactly when or where he would meet Putin, but that he planned to announce a location soon. Later on social networks, he announced what he called “the long -awaited meeting” would occur on August 15 in Alaska. He said more details would follow. The Kremlin has not yet confirmed the details.

He suggested earlier Friday that his meeting with the Russian chief could present himself before any discussion involving the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“We are going to have a meeting with Russia, start with Russia. And we will announce a location. I think the location will be very popular,” said Trump.

He added: “It would have been earlier, but I suppose that there are security arrangements that, unfortunately, people have to do. Otherwise, I would do it much faster. He too. He would like to meet as soon as possible. I agree with that. But we will announce this very soon.”

If this happens, the meeting would be the first American summit-Russia since 2021, when former president Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva. This could mean a breakthrough in Trump’s efforts to put an end to war, although there is no guarantee that this would prevent fights since Moscow and kyiv remain far from their peace conditions.

However, Trump said: “President Putin, I think, wants to see peace, and Zelenskyy wants to see peace.” He said that: “In all honesty for President Zelenskyy, he gets everything he needs, assuming that we do something.”

Trump also said that a peace agreement would probably mean “there will be an exchange of territories” between Ukraine and Russia, but has not provided more details.

Trump said about the territory generally “we are looking to recover and exchange. It is complicated.”

“Nothing easy,” said the president. “But we are going to recover. We will change. There will be an exchange of territories, to the good of both.”

Analysts, some of whom were close to the Kremlin, suggested that Russia could propose to give up a territory that it controls outside the four regions it claims to have annexed.

Pressed if it was the last chance to conclude a major peace agreement, Trump said: “I don’t like to use the last chance term” and said: “When these firearms start to go out, it is terribly difficult to have them arrested.”

Exasperated that Putin did not take into account his calls to stop bombing the Ukrainian cities, Trump almost two weeks ago rose his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary prices targeting countries that bought Russian oil if the Kremlin did not approach a regulation. The deadline was Friday.

Before his announcement of the meeting with Putin, Trump’s efforts to put pressure on Russia to stop the fighting has so far had no progress. The largest army in the Kremlin progresses slowly in Ukraine at a high price in troops and armor while relentlessly bombing the Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far from their conditions for peace.

Ukrainian troops say they are ready to continue fighting

The Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1,000-kilometer (620 mile) front line that winds from the northeast to the south-east of Ukraine. The Pokrovsk region of the eastern region of Donetsk takes the weight of punishment while Russia seeks to extinguish in the neighboring region of Dnipropetrovsk. Ukraine has significant labor shortages.

Intense fights also take place in the border region north of Sumy in Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces engage in Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements from being sent from there to Donetsk.

In the Pokrovsk region of Donetsk, a commander said that he thought that Moscow was not interested in peace.

“It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,” said Buda, commander of a drone unit from the Spartan brigade, to the Associated Press. He only used his appeal index, in accordance with the rules of the Ukrainian army.

“I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree. This does not want to negotiate. The only option is therefore to defeat them,” he said.

In the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, a belly commander using the Warsaw call signal, said the troops are determined to thwart the invasion of Russia.

“We are on our land, we have no way,” he said. “So we hold our field, we have no choice.”

Putin makes a burst of telephone calls

The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin had a phone call with Chinese chief Xi Jinping, during whom the Russian chief informed Xi of his meeting results earlier this week with Trump Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Xi “had expressed support for the long -term Ukrainian crisis.”

Putin is scheduled to visit China next month. China, as well as North Korea and Iran, have provided military support to Russia’s war effort, said the United States.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that he had also had a call with Putin to talk about the latest Ukrainian developments. Trump signed a decree on Wednesday to place an additional 25% rate on India for its Russian oil purchases, which, according to the American president, is helping to finance the Russian war.

Putin calls followed her telephone conversations with the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Bélarus, the Kremlin said.

Calls have suggested to at least one analyst that Putin may want to inform Russia’s most important allies about a potential regulation that could be reached at a summit with Trump.

“This means that a sort of real peace agreement was concluded for the first time,” said Sergei Markov, pro-Kremlin Moscow analyst.

Analysts say Putin aims to survive the West

Trump’s Friday comments came after saying that he would meet Putin even if the Russian chief does not meet Zelenskyy. This has delighted fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to arrest the largest conflict on the continent since the Second World War.

Putin said in a previous statement that he hoped to meet Trump next week, perhaps in the United Arab Emirates.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington reflection group, said Thursday in an assessment that “Putin remains interested in the end of his war and is trying to extract bilateral concessions in the United States without significantly committing in a peace process.”

“Putin continues to believe that time is on the side of Russia and that Russia can survive Ukraine and the West,” he said.