US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, August 13, said he would seek a three-way meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately after his upcoming Alaska summit with Putin — part of his push to end the three-year war in Ukraine.
Trump spoke after what he described as a “very good” call with European leaders, including Zelensky, even as Russian forces made their largest advance into Ukraine in over a year.
“If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” Trump told reporters, referring to Friday’s planned face-to-face with Putin in Anchorage. “I would like to do it almost immediately — a quick second meeting between President Putin, President Zelensky, and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
The high-stakes summit comes as Trump struggles to deliver on his campaign pledge to end the conflict, with Zelensky and European allies urging him to push for a ceasefire. However, fears are growing that Trump and Putin could strike a deal forcing painful concessions from Ukraine, especially since Zelensky was not invited to the Anchorage talks.
Trump warned he would cancel the follow-up meeting if Putin appeared to be acting in bad faith. “If I feel that it’s not appropriate because I didn’t get the answers we have to have, then we are not going to have a second meeting,” he said.
According to an AFP analysis of battlefield data, Russian forces on Tuesday captured their largest area of Ukrainian territory in a single day in more than a year — roughly 110 square kilometers.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and other European leaders, along with NATO and EU chiefs, in a joint call with Trump. The consensus, leaders said, was for Trump to secure a ceasefire, with Trump warning Russia of “severe consequences” if it refused.
Still, Zelensky voiced doubts about Moscow’s intentions: “I have told my colleagues — the US president and our European friends — that Putin definitely does not want peace.”
While Trump described Friday’s meeting as “really a feel-out meeting,” he hinted at potential land swaps in a future settlement. Merz noted Ukraine is ready to negotiate on territorial issues but stressed that recognizing Russian-occupied areas “would not be up for debate.”
Despite diplomatic efforts, Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine continues to accelerate. Ukrainian troops near the front line in Kramatorsk expressed little optimism.
“Putin is massing an army, he is stockpiling weapons, he is pulling the wool over our eyes,” said Artem, a 30-year-old serviceman. “This war will likely continue for a long time.”
