Trump said a second meeting with Putin and Zelensky would address boundary issues, but Zelensky refuses to cede land. PHOTO: FILE
MOSCOW/LONDON/KYIV:
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he thought Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on ending his war in Ukraine after the Russian president floated the prospect of a nuclear arms agreement on the eve of their summit in Alaska.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies have intensified their efforts this week to prevent any deal between the US and Russia emerging from Friday’s summit that leaves Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.
“I think he’s going to make a deal,” Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well, he would call Zelenskiy and European leaders afterwards, and that if it went badly, he would not. The aim of Friday’s talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: “I don’t know that we’re going to get an immediate ceasefire.”
Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for a meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two.
In televised comments, Putin said the US was “making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.” This was happening, Putin said, “in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole – if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.”
His comments signalled that Russia will raise nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump.
A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the “huge untapped potential” for Russia-US economic ties.
A senior Eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related.
“We hope Trump won’t be fooled by the Russians; he understands all (these) dangerous things,” the official said, adding that Russia’s only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted.
Trump said there would be a press conference after the talks, but that he did not know whether it would be joint. He also said there would be “a give and take” on boundaries and land.