US President Donald Trump may invite his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Alaska on August 15 for his talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin, according to a report by NBC News.
Quoting officials, the report said the White House is considering the option of inviting Zelenskyy. Though there are doubts whether Zelenskyy would eventually turn up in Alaska, White House officials told NBC News that "everyone is very hopeful that would happen."
"The President remains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders. Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin," a senior White House official told NBC News.
The Ukrainian government, however, is yet to respond to this.
Trump, Putin to meet on August 15
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet each other in Alaska on August 15 and discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine that began in February 2022. This is going to be the first meeting between a sitting US President and Putin since the beginning of Ukraine war.
Previously, ex-US President Joe Biden had met Putin in 2021 in Geneva.
Putin demands withdrawal of NATO from eastern Ukraine
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Putin has demanded that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Kyiv withdraw from eastern Ukraine. The report claimed that Putin might also demand four provinces - Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia - during talks with Trump.
Interestingly, Trump has also hinted at 'swapping of territories' with Putin.
However, Zelenskyy has clearly rejected Trump's proposal and made a veiled dig at the West for allowing Putin to annexe Crimea in 2014. Zelenskyy said Putin is the only person who is against a ceasefire, and noted that he will never allow the "second attempt to partition Ukraine".
"Ukraine and all partners share the same understanding of the need for a ceasefire, for an end to the killings," he said in an 'X' post. "There is only one actor opposing this – Putin. His only card is the ability to kill, and he is trying to sell the cessation of killings at the highest possible price."
