Trump to meet Putin in Alaska next week as Zelenskyy condemns any decision made without Ukraine

US President Donald Trump said he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, 15 August, in Alaska to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine.

The announcement, made by Trump on social media, was later confirmed by a Kremlin spokesperson.

In comments to reporters at the White House before his post confirming the date and place, Trump suggested that any agreement would likely involve “some swapping of territories,” but he gave no details.

Meanwhile, in reaction to the statement early Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post, "Ukrainians will not give their land as a gift to the occupier," adding that "any decision made against or without Ukraine will bring nothing" and are "dead decisions" that "will never work."

Nevertheless, Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine is "ready, together with President Trump, together with all partners, to work toward real, and most importantly, lasting peace."

Some analysts, including people close to the Kremlin, have suggested that Russia might be ready to give up areas it controls outside the four regions it claims to have annexed.

Trump said his meeting with Putin would take place before any talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He had also agreed to meet Putin even if the Russian leader refused to meet Zelenskyy. This has caused concern in Europe that Ukraine could be left out of the negotiations.

Trump announced he would host Putin on US soil, breaking expectations that the meeting would be held in a third country. The move gives Putin legitimacy after years of US and allied efforts to isolate him over the war in Ukraine.

Trump told reporters the meeting “would have been sooner, but I guess there’s security arrangements that unfortunately people have to make.”

He said, “President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace, and Zelenskyy wants to see peace.” He added, “In all fairness to President Zelenskyy, he’s getting everything he needs to, assuming we get something done.”

Trump suggested that a peace deal would probably involve Ukraine and Russia swapping some of the land they control.

“Nothing easy,” he said. “But we’re gonna get some back. We’re gonna get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories, to the betterment of both.”

When asked if this was the last chance for a major peace deal, Trump replied, “I don’t like using the term last chance,” and added, “When those guns start going off, it’s awfully tough to get ’em to stop.”

Frustrated that Putin had ignored his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump moved up his deadline nearly two weeks ago to impose more sanctions on Russia and add tariffs on countries buying Russian oil, unless the Kremlin moved towards a settlement.

That deadline passed on Friday, but the White House gave no updates on possible sanctions after Trump announced the upcoming meeting.

Before this announcement, Trump’s attempts to pressure Russia had made no progress. Russia’s larger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at a high cost in soldiers and equipment, while continuing to bomb Ukrainian cities. Both sides remain far apart on their terms for peace.

The Kremlin said Putin spoke by phone with China’s leader Xi Jinping on Friday, telling him about a recent meeting with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. Officials said Xi “expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis.”

Putin is expected to visit China next month.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X that he also spoke with Putin about the latest developments in Ukraine. On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order adding a 25% tariff on India for buying Russian oil, which he says is helping to fund the war.

The Kremlin said Putin has also spoken with the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

One pro-Kremlin analyst, Sergei Markov, suggested these calls may mean Putin was updating key allies about a possible deal from the summit with Trump. “It means that some sort of real peace agreement has been reached for the first time,” he said.

Putin last visited the US in 2015 for the UN General Assembly in New York. The Alaska meeting will be the first US–Russia summit since 2021, when Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva.