Donald Trump is set for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin on Friday, but appears to have sidelined Volodymyr Zelensky from this week’s discussions
Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to his meeting with Vladimir Putin after accusing the Ukrainian leader of doing “nothing” in the past three years.
The decision ahead of Friday’s summit in Alaska has fuelled concerns in Kyiv and across Europe that a peace plan could be negotiated without its direct involvement. It came as it emerged that Ukraine could agree to stop fighting and cede territory already held by Russia as part of a European-backed plan for peace. Speaking about why Zelensky was not invited, Trump said during a White House briefing: “He wasn’t a part of it. I would say he could go, but he’s gone to a lot of meetings. You know, he’s been there for three and a half years. Nothing happened.”
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The US President said the Alaska summit with Putin would be a first step in assessing whether an agreement to end the war was possible. “We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin, and at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be [made] because that’s what I do. I make deals,” he told reporters at the White House today.
Trump insisted that any settlement would not be decided solely by him. “I’m not going to make a deal. It’s not up to me to make a deal. I think a deal should be made for both,” he said, adding he would know within “two minutes” if it was possible.
“How will you know that?” a reporter asked. “Because that’s what I do. I make deals,” Trump said. The president later added that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky would be necessary. “Ultimately, I’m going to put the two of them in a room. I’ll be there, or I won’t be there, and I think it’ll get solved,” Trump said.
The president said that “there could be many definitions” of a good deal, but he also seemed to lower expectations ahead of Friday’s summit. “I expect to have a meeting with Putin that I think it’ll be good, but it might be bad,” Trump said.
Despite the President’s plans, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman warned yesterday that Putin should never be trusted “as far as you can throw him”.
They added: “We will obviously support President Trump and European nations as we enter these negotiations. But it is exactly why we’ve been leading this work on the coalition of the willing, because any ceasefire, as I say, cannot just be an opportunity for President Putin to go away, re-arm, restrengthen, and then go again.
“So we’re not going to leave it to trust. We’re going to ensure that we’re prepared such that we achieve a ceasefire. “The coalition of willing and the security guarantees are in place… that learns the lessons of the past, where we clearly have not had those meaningful security guarantees in place, which did allow President Putin to re-arm and go again.”
Quizzed on whether Zelenskyy should be attending Friday’s meeting, the PM’s spokesman said: “The UK will never waver in our support for Ukraine. Ukraine’s future must be one of freedom, security and self-determination. It will choose its own path and we will stand with it until peace is just and sovereignty is secure. Any peace must be built with Ukraine.”
They added: “It’s up to the United States to set out details of the talks President Trump is leading later in the week. More broadly, the path to peace cannot be decided without Ukraine.” The US leader’s approach has rattled Ukraine and its European allies, who fear a bilateral arrangement could leave Kyiv sidelined and under pressure to accept territorial concessions.
But today, details of a European-backed plan emerged showing Ukraine could agree to halt fighting and cede territory already under Russian control. Zelensky has told European leaders they must reject any settlement that demands surrendering Ukrainian-held territory, although he has indicated that land already occupied by Russia could be part of negotiations.
This would effectively freeze the frontline in its current position and hand Moscow de facto control of areas in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Crimea. “The plan can only be related to the current positions held by the militaries,” a Western official said, describing a flurry of weekend diplomacy between Kyiv and its allies ahead of Friday’s talks.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned of the stakes, saying: “I have many fears and a lot of hope.” He added that US officials had promised to consult European capitals before the Trump–Putin face-to-face meeting. One of the central European concerns is a purported peace plan, backed by Moscow, which calls for freezing the battle lines in south-eastern Ukraine if Kyiv agrees to withdraw from parts of Donetsk and Luhansk still under its control.
European leaders have backed Kyiv’s position that any concessions should be limited to territory already occupied by Russian forces. Their strategy is to present a united diplomatic front, described by one Western official as a single “Ukraine plus Europe” red line, in an attempt to persuade Trump not to push for deeper Ukrainian compromises.
“Europeans now understand their role as supportive of Ukraine in terms of the diplomatic negotiations,” the official said. “It’s a boost for morale, it’s also strengthening the diplomatic positions of Ukraine so that it doesn’t feel alone.”
Tusk was emphatic about rejecting changes to borders imposed by military force. “For Poland and our partners, it is clear that state borders cannot be changed by force,” he said at a press conference. “Russia’s war with Ukraine must not bring benefits to the aggressor.”
Over the weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued statements echoing Tusk’s stance, pledging firm opposition to any peace arrangement that would involve surrendering land to Moscow.
Trump’s meeting with Putin is expected to focus on identifying what he described as “parameters” for a potential settlement before he engages with Zelensky and European leaders.
However, critics argue that the sequencing of the talks – meeting Russia first, then Ukraine – risks giving the Kremlin an advantage in shaping the narrative and terms of any deal.
The war, now well into its third year, has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions. While both sides remain entrenched, the possibility of a freeze in fighting and a territorial compromise has gained weight among some diplomats seeking to end the conflict.
Yet for many in Kyiv, the danger lies in any perception that Western resolve is weakening. European capitals fear that without a firm, united stance, Putin could exploit divisions to secure a peace deal that rewards his invasion. The Alaska summit will be Trump and Putin’s first in-person meeting since the US President returned to the White House in January.
Both leaders are expected to make public statements after the talks, though no joint press conference is planned.