In a call with European leaders on his flight back to Washington, Trump said the US was prepared to provide security guarantees for Ukraine – an assurance German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as “significant progress”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned Ukraine won’t surrender land to Russia to buy peace. Photo / Getty Images
But there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to “drag out negotiations” with no commitment to end the bloodshed.
“The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon,” Kallas said.
The New York Times, citing two European officials briefed on Trump’s call with European leaders, said the President had expressed support for Putin’s proposal for Ukraine to cede territory it controls to Russia in exchange for an eventual ceasefire.
Zelenskyy back in White House
The main diplomatic focus now switches to Zelenskyy’s talks with Trump in Washington tomorrow.
An EU source told AFP that a number of European leaders had also been invited to attend.
The Ukrainian President’s last visit to the White House in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelenskyy for not showing enough gratitude for US help against the Russian invasion.
Zelenskyy, after a “substantive” conversation with Trump about the Alaska summit, said he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing “all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war”.
In an interview with Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Zelenskyy to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin.
“It’s really up to President Zelenskyy to get it done,” Trump said. “And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it’s up to President Zelenskyy.”
European pressure
The leaders of France, Britain and Germany are due to host a video call today for their so-called “coalition of the willing” to discuss the way forward.
They earlier welcomed the plan for a Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy summit, but added that they would maintain pressure on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire.
“We will continue to strengthen sanctions and wider economic measures to put pressure on Russia’s war economy until there is a just and lasting peace.”
Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night.
In Moscow, Putin said his talks with Trump had been “timely” and “very useful”.
“The conversation was very frank, substantive and, in my opinion, brings us closer to the necessary decisions,” he said.
In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin had warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any “behind-the-scenes intrigues” that could disrupt what he called “this emerging progress”.
– Agence France-Presse