Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday strongly dismissed any official ceding of Ukrainian ground to Russia, cautioning that any peace agreement excluding Kyiv from negotiations would be “dead solutions” and destined to fail. His comments come just days before a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. The summit, described as a possible turning point to bring an end to the three-and-a-half-year war, has raised unease in Kyiv and throughout Europe that Ukraine might be left out of the decision-making process.
In a Telegram statement, Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukraine’s territorial integrity is constitutionally protected and cannot be sacrificed. “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupiers,” he said. “Any solutions without Ukraine are solutions against peace. These are stillborn decisions, unworkable decisions.” He further cautioned that offering concessions to Russia for its aggression would create a bad precedent.
Trump-Putin Discussions To Center On War Resolution
The White House confirmed that Trump would receive Putin in Alaska for negotiations with the aim of reaching a “long-term peaceful solution” to the Ukrainian crisis. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti as saying the location of the meeting was “completely rational,” considering Alaska and Russia’s geographical proximity. Telling reporters on Friday, Trump floated the idea of a swap of territory. “There’ll be some exchange of land to the advantage of both,” he said without elaborating.
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Trump said his meeting with Putin would precede any trilateral discussions involving Zelenskyy. The order has alarmed Europe because it feared Ukraine’s interests might be compromised. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, after a meeting with Zelenskyy, observed that a “freeze” in the war could be nearer than anticipated but underscored that Kyiv is still wary. “There are hopes for this,” Tusk said. “But Ukraine is interested that Poland and other European allies have something to say in the formulation of any ceasefire and peace agreement.”
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Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine started over three years ago and has already claimed tens of thousands of lives. Moscow says four Ukrainian regions — Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, as well as Crimea, annexed in 2014. Even though it has failed to retake all occupied lands by force, Kyiv has insisted that it will not legalize Russia’s territorial take. As the summit in Alaska draws near, international eyes are on whether Trump and Putin can overcome the wide gulf between Moscow and Kyiv, or if, as Zelenskyy warns, the absence of Ukraine at the table will doom the effort before it begins.