Ben Achi
The President of the United States (US), Donald Trump has said he believes the Russian President, Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal on the ongoing war in Ukraine as the two leaders prepare for their summit in Alaska, US on Friday, 15th August 2025.
The US president implied there was a 75% chance of the Alaska meeting succeeding, and that the threat of economic sanctions may have made Putin more willing to seek an end to the war.
Trump insisted that he would not let Putin get the better of him in Friday’s meeting, telling reporters: “I am president, and he’s not going to mess around with me.
“I will know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes … whether or not we are going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting.
“And if it’s a bad meeting, it’ll end very quickly, and if it’s a good meeting, we’re going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future.” said Trump.
He also said a second meeting on a later date – not yet confirmed – between him, Putin and the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be more decisive.
“The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don’t want to use the word ‘divvy’ things up, but you know, to a certain extent, it’s not a bad term, OK?” Trump news reporters.
He was referring to the possibility that Zelenskyy would have to accept “land swaps” – in practice the handing over of Ukrainian territory to Russia, potentially including some not captured by Moscow.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump suggested that any second, trilateral meeting could happen quickly – and possibly take place in Alaska.
“Tomorrow, all I want to do is set the table for the next meeting, which should happen shortly,” he said. “I would like to see it actually happen, maybe in Alaska.”
Any such meeting would be a concession by Putin since he refuses to recognise Zelenskyy as the legitimate leader of Ukraine.
Trump conceded he was unsure whether an immediate ceasefire could be achieved, but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement.
On Putin, he said: “I believe now, he is convinced that he’s going to make a deal. I think he is going to, and we are going to find out.”
Zelenskyy would face a difficult choice if Putin rejects Ukraine’s call for a full 30-day ceasefire and offers only a partial break in the fighting, particularly if Trump thinks a three-way meeting should still go ahead.
The Ukrainian president spent much of Thursday in London, the United Kingdom (UK), discussing Wednesday’s video call between European leaders and Trump alongside the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer.
European leaders were largely relieved with the way the conversation went, but believed Trump is unpredictable and prone to acting on instinct, rather than sticking to a script.
