WASHINGTON: U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska will be a “feel-out meeting.”
Speaking at a White House press conference, Trump said a future meeting could also involve Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or include both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
A White House official told reporters on Saturday that Trump remained open to a summit with both leaders.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Sunday it was still possible that Zelenskyy could attend Friday’s meeting in Alaska.
“The decision is going to be made by President Trump,” Whitaker said. “There’s still time to make that decision.”
Ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are racing to try to influence the U.S. position.
They will speak to Trump this week amid fears that Trump, keen to claim credit for making peace and also hoping to seal lucrative joint business deals with Moscow, could cut a deal deeply disadvantageous to Kyiv.
Trump has said any peace deal would involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Russia and Ukraine, prompting consternation in Kyiv and European capitals.
Germany said it was convening a series of top-level video conferences on Wednesday to prepare for the summit, including one at 3 p.m. between European leaders, Zelenskyy, Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
European leaders and EU and NATO officials would coordinate their approach beforehand, a German government spokesperson said.
Zelenskyy said on Monday that concessions to Moscow would not persuade it to stop fighting in Ukraine and that pressure on the Kremlin needs to be increased.
He later held separate phone calls with the leaders of India and Saudi Arabia in an effort to bolster international support for Kyiv’s position ahead of the Trump-Putin talks.
European Union foreign ministers discussed their support for Kyiv and the upcoming meeting in a video conference on Monday afternoon.
“EU Foreign Ministers today expressed support for U.S. steps that will lead to a just peace,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X following the discussion on Ukraine. “Meanwhile, we work on more sanctions against Russia, more military support for Ukraine, and more support for Ukraine’s budgetary needs and accession process to join the EU,” she added.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said London supports Trump’s efforts to end the Ukraine crisis but believes Kyiv must be involved in any settlement ending the fighting.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told his counterparts on the call that “any diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s sovereignty, its territorial integrity, and its freedom to choose its own future, including its path toward the EU.”
