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US President Donald Trump has said he aims to convene a three-way meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately following his summit with Putin in Alaska, in a bid to end the three-year war in Ukraine.
Speaking after what he described as a “very good” call with European leaders, including Zelenskyy, Trump suggested that if the Alaska meeting on Friday goes well, a second meeting could follow involving all three leaders.
“I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin, President Zelenskyy, and me, if they’d like to have me there,” he told reporters.
The proposed summit comes amid intensified Russian offensives in eastern Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces reporting the largest 24-hour territorial loss in more than a year.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, participated in discussions with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO, and EU chiefs to encourage Trump to press for a ceasefire, expressing doubt over Moscow’s willingness for peace.
Trump warned that a follow-up meeting could be cancelled if he felt Putin acted in bad faith. Despite his repeated 2024 campaign promises to end the conflict swiftly, little progress has been made, and his threats of “secondary sanctions” on Russia have yet to materialise.
European leaders emphasised a united front in supporting Ukraine, with Merz highlighting that legal recognition of Russian occupations remains non-negotiable.
Ursula von der Leyen noted that the dialogue had strengthened transatlantic coordination, while NATO head Mark Rutte declared that “the ball is now in Putin’s court.”
The Russian foreign ministry dismissed the diplomatic push as “politically and practically insignificant,” while Russian troops continued to seize ground on the eastern front.
Ukrainian soldiers expressed scepticism over the potential impact of the meetings, with one serviceman in Kramatorsk warning that the war is likely to continue for “a long time.”
