What Ukraine and Russia want the Trump-Poutin meeting in Alaska

When President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin Land in Alaska on Friday for his high -risk discussion on war in Ukraine, the two leaders will bring different ideas about the end of the war that Russia began more than three years ago. At the same time, Ukraine will observe from abroad with European allies, hoping that Trump is protecting his interests.

Its meetings are expected to be limited by a rare joint press conference with the two world leaders, the first event of its type since its 2018 summit in Helsinki, when Mr. Trump of sides with Putin about his own intelligence agencies on Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Trump has tried to reduce expectations at the meeting, telling journalists the previous day: “All I want to do is prepare the table for the next meeting, which should happen shortly.” The subsequent meeting is an idea that has been floating this week, and said that it would also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and perhaps other allies. The president raised the possibility that Zelenskyy could even join them in Alaska in a couple of days.

The White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, referred to the conversations with Putin as “an listening exercise” for Mr. Trump and said that his goal “is to move away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.”

There are a number of questions at the summit: the main one is what Russia wants, and if there is a way to reconcile your demands with what Ukraine wants. American and Russian counterparts have been talking, and Trump and Putin have had their own telephone conversations.

In March, Ukraine agreed To a 30 -day fire proposal backed by the United States, and months later, in May, when the Kremlin had not yet accepted the terms, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the United States was trying to find out if Russia was just “Touching us”

For July, the victims were climbing in Ukraine when Russia intensified their Bombing campaign with hundreds of attacks with missiles and drones. Mr. Trump gave Putin a 50 -day deadline To accept an agreement to end the war, and then shortened a 10 -day deadlinethreatening tougher tariffs and secondary sanctions. Dmitri Medvedev, the former president of Russia, responded by Mr. Trump in X. “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war,” he said, warning that it would not be “between Russia and Ukraine, but with [Trump’s] own country “.

But one day before the president of 10 days of the president expired, and after Putin met with the special envoy of the United States Steve Witkoff, the Kremlin announced that Putin and Trump would meet.

Mr. Trump on Wednesday saying There would be “very serious consequences” for Russia if you do not agree to finish the war after Friday’s meeting, although she refused to prepare.

Zelenskyy and the European partners met virtually with Mr. Trump on Wednesday, after which Zelenskyy wrote in X: “Together with our partners, we support the efforts of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to end the war, stop the murders and achieve a fair and lasting peace. I am grateful to the partners by our shared position: the path to peace.”

European leaders distrust the Trump-Poutin meeting. The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, said Wednesday about the summit: “The most important thing is that Europe convinces Donald Trump that one cannot trust Russia,” he added: “No one should think about recognizing Russia’s right to demarcate borders for their neighbors.” Zelenskyy will not be there to represent the interests of Ukraine, and Trump has shown that he is sometimes reluctant to criticize Putin.

What Russia wants

Experts say that Putin has several objectives that will not be shared by the United States and Ukraine, and Trump must be cautious.

Putin would love to see the United States suspend their financial support to Ukraine, said Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies on military and political power.

“He wants to put aside the power of the United States so he can take advantage of more effectively in Ukraine,” said Bowman, added that at the same time, Putin “will try to make the invaded look like the villain.” While Trump aims to end the war that Russia began, it is likely that Putin tries to take advantage of Trump’s desire for peace.

“‘He is going to try to obtain Trump’s support for bad peace,” Bowman said, added: “Some peace agreements are bad because they lead to more war.”

John Lough, an associated member in the Russia and Eurasia program and the Think-Thank British tank house, predicted that Russia “would put something in front of [Trump] That he verifies and say: ‘This is a way to get out of the war, and I like that, and now I am prepared to support myself with the Ukrainians and the Europeans and we will do it on the line’ “.

But Lough also believes that for Russia, the meeting is “high risk.”

“They may not get what they want, but at least they expect the phase of the next phase of the process of taking Ukraine to the table and, I suppose, carry out the negotiations within a framework with which it comes with,” Lough said.

Russia, said Lough, wants to “resolve the framework of the peace agreement and then talk about a high fire, while Ukraine, his allies and, to some extent, President Trump said: ‘No, we start with a stop the fire and then build around that'”.

Daniel Fried, former ambassador of the United States in Poland and former state assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, believes that Putin could try to insert a wedge between the United States and his allies.

“He wants to get out of this meeting at no cost and cut the American position and maybe Trump to take a gap between him and Zelenskyy, Trump and Europeans,” Fried said in a press call on Wednesday.

After Mr. Trump’s most skeptical comments on Putin since the meeting was scheduled, Fried said: “I am less worried about what three days ago.”

Fried, who is now a member of the Atlantic Council, said that for Putin, a great result would be “dazzle” to Trump with a false offer and get away with a big smile.

In the June conversations, the Kremlin presented a memorandum that offers Ukraine two options for a high 30 -day fire, which could give an idea of Putin’s maximalist demands.

The first would have required Ukraine to withdraw his forces from four regions annexed by Russia, but that Russia never completely controlled: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The second option implied a series of conditions that include a requirement that Ukraine reduces its military effort, stops receiving military aid, excludes any international military force from its territory, lifting martial law and then quickly celebrates an election.

As part of a peace treaty, Russia said it would require the international recognition of Russian sovereignty about some Ukrainian territories that it currently occupies, including Donbas and Crimea, and a promise of Ukraine of not joining any military alliances, the end of their efforts to join NATO – Or allow any foreign army to operate or have bases in its territory.

Russia also said that he would want a limit of the force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and that Russian becomes an official language in Ukraine.

Wendy Sherman, a former Secretary of State who has sat in front of Putin before, said the Russian leader has no real interest in finishing this war, is simply “buying time.”

“This is President Putin’s meeting,” Sherman told News themezone Wednesday. “He is really in charge of this meeting. He asked. The president, I think, felt flattered to have this meeting. But Putin has no interest in finishing this war. He is very intelligent, he is very cautious.”

What Ukraine wants

Ukraine wants the end of the assault of Russia and its full withdrawal from its territory.

“There must be an honest end to war. And it depends on Russia,” Zelenskyy said on social networks earlier this month. “It is Russia that must end the war that began.”

Trump said earlier this week that a high fire agreement between Russia and Ukraine would imply “some land exchanges.

That caused a response from Zelenskyy, who said that Ukraine would not give up any of his territory to Russia. The Constitution of Ukraine does not allow it to formally transfer parts of the country.

“We will not reward Russia for what has perpetrated,” Zelenskyy said in a publication on social networks last weekend. “The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will deviate from this, and no one can do it. The Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupant.”

Despite such statements, John Herbst, senior director of the Eurasia Center of the Atlantic Council, said Zelenskyy has shown that he is willing to commit.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Zelenskyy understands that territorial concessions may be required to obtain lasting peace,” said Herbst.

Another important concern is whether Putin, with his deep knowledge of Ukraine, could try to manipulate Mr. Trump, said former intelligence official Andrea Kendall-Taylor, who specialized in Russian matters.

Ukrainian ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova He told News themezone That “we all understand reality in the field, and we are ready to discuss how to finish this war.” He added: “Let’s stop the murders and get to diplomacy.”

The problematic story of Ukraine and Russia

Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union before voting for Independence in 1991.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, the NATO alliance expanded to the east, adding former Soviet republics, including Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, and established a close association with Ukraine. In 2008, the Alliance declared its intention that Ukraine joined NATO at some point in the future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on numerous occasions that he sees NATO expansion as a threat to Russia. He has also said that he believes that Ukraine is part of political, cultural and linguistically.

Some Ukrainians, mainly in the oriental areas, are roller speaking and feel more closely aligned with Russia than the Nation of Ukraine. But most of the Ukrainians speak Ukrainian, feel a deep patriotic connection with Ukraine and have favored the development of narrower ties with Europe.

The general protests broke out in Ukraine in 2014 when the president pro-ruso at that time refused to sign an EU association agreement. Public outrage forced him to the position, an apparent victory for the Ukrainians who favored The closest ties with Europe. But shortly after, Russia attached Crimea, a peninsula that was recognized internationally as part of Ukraine, and the Kremlin supported a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

In 2022, Russia launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine, Atta Cking Cities throughout the country, including the capital, Kyiv. Some expected Russia to take over quickly, but the Ukrainians fought hard to defend themselves, the Russian profits stagnate largely behind the front lines in the east, and the war has continued since then.

• Donald Trump
• Vladimir Putin