In his first reaction to the announcement of a Trump-Putin meeting next week, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine “will not give their land to occupiers.”
In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Zelenskyy stressed that any solutions without Ukraine will be “solutions against peace.”
Zelenskyy’s remarks came after US President, Donald Trump announced that he will be meeting Russian President, Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, August 15, 2025, to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed that a meeting between the two leaderes was scheduled, describing the Alaska location for the summit as “quite logical.”
However, Trump signalled that Ukraine may have to cede territory in a peace deal with Russia.
“It’s very complicated. But we’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both, but we’ll be talking about that either later or tomorrow.”
Donald Trump
Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine will “not reward Russia for what it has perpetrated.”
“This war must be brought to an end – and Russia must end it. Russia started it and is dragging it out, ignoring all deadlines, and that is the problem, not something else.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine and its European allies have long opposed any agreement that involves ceding occupied territory – including Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – to Russia.
However, Putin has repeatedly said that any deal must require Ukraine to relinquish some of the territories Russia has seized since 2014. He has also called for a pause to Western aid for Ukraine and an end to Kyiv’s efforts to join the NATO military alliance.
Decisions Made Without Ukraine Labelled “Unworkable”
Additionally, Zelenskyy asserted that decisions made without Ukraine “will not achieve anything.” He noted, “These are stillborn decisions. They are unworkable decisions.”
Addressing the Trump-Putin meeting directly, Zelenskyy stated that the summit is taking place “very far away from this war, which is raging on our land, against our people, and which anyway can’t be ended without us, without Ukraine.”
Nonetheless, Zelenskyy insisted that Ukraine is ready to work with Trump, together with all its partners for a “real” peace.
In recent weeks, Trump has set his Russian counterpart a series of deadlines in order to put pressure on Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
On July 14, Trump gave Putin 50 days to end the war – threatening to impose sweeping tariffs if he didn’t. On July 28, Trump shortened the deadline for a ceasefire with Ukraine to “10 or 12 days.”
Then, on July 29, the US President set the deadline as August 8 – which was yesterday but, as the deadline approached, the economic threat was quickly overshadowed by plans for Trump and Putin to meet in person to discuss a possible peace deal.
There has been no further announcement of further sanctions on Russia from the White House since the deadline passed.
Meanwhile, the prospect of Trump meeting Putin has raised logistical questions in recent days, particularly since the Russian leader faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Prosecutors have sought his arrest for alleged war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine, and Putin’s travel through any ICC member countries could result in his detention.
US, however, is not an ICC member and does not recognise the court’s authority.
While the Kremlin had previously floated the possibility of meeting in the United Arab Emirates, another non-member, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he would welcome Putin to the US northernmost state, Alaska.
The state’s mainland sits approximately 88 kilometres – or 55 miles – away from Russia across the Bering Strait, and some smaller islands are even closer.
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