Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised U.S. President Donald Trump for his efforts to try to reach a deal to end to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine just one days before their summit in Alaska.
The American leadership “is making quite an energetic and sincere effort, in my opinion, to stop hostilities, to stop the crisis and to reach an agreement that is of interest to all those involved in this conflict,” Putin said.
“This could create long-term conditions of peace both between our countries and in Europe and in the world as a whole, if we reach an agreement on the area of control over strategic offensive weapons by the next stage,” Putin added.
Putin’s remarks came after Trump on Wednesday warned of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Moscow failed to a ceasefire agreement.
This suggests that a deal on nuclear arms control could be part of the talks.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the summit would start with head-to-head talks between Trump, Putin and their translators at 11:30 a.m. local time.
Trump “wants to exhaust all options to try to bring this war to a peaceful resolution,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday. Ukraine will engage in no peace talks without a prior ceasefire, Ukraine must be involved in negotiations and Ukraine will make the decision on any territorial concessions.
Zelenskyy and his European allies said that Trump agreed to the negotiating outline.
“Putin definitely does not want peace,” Zelenskyy said. “He wants the occupation of our country. And we all really understand that. Putin will not be able to deceive anyone. We need further pressure for peace. Not only American, but also European sanctions.”
Meanwhile, Trump did not comment when pressed.
“We’re going to see what happens with our meeting. We have a big meeting. It’s going to be, I think, very important for Russia, and it’s going to be very important for us,” Trump said.
