Experts are questioning whether Donald Trump's scheduled meeting with Vladimir Putin n Friday could be a “trap".
When the US President meets the Russian President in Alaska tomorrow, the world will be watching to see if the talks move the war in Ukraine any closer to a ceasefire, or if the meeting plays directly into Moscow’s hands.
According to ABC News, many analysts believe the summit will offer Putin a golden opportunity to shape Trump’s vision for ending the war while keeping Ukraine and European leaders on the sidelines.
Russian state media has celebrated the choice of Alaska for its symbolism, both its distance from Europe and the fact that the territory was once sold by Russia to the United States in 1867.
Former Ukrainian defense minister Andrii Zahorodniuk said he expects the 72-year-old Russian leader to propose terms he knows Kyiv cannot accept, creating friction between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Putin wants to get the U.S. on their side to get all Donbas, something they cannot achieve without losing another few hundred thousand people and a year of time," Zahorodniuk told the outlet.
There are still faint signs of movement as Zelenskyy revealed that this week, the US received a message from Russia suggesting it may be “ready to end the war, or at least to make a first step towards a ceasefire”.
Reports indicate Russia’s latest demands involve Ukraine handing over the remainder of unoccupied Donetsk and Luhansk in exchange for stopping offensives in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, and returning small parts of Sumy and Kherson.
Zelenskyy has already ruled out those concessions, noting Ukraine’s constitution forbids surrendering territory. “We will not leave Donbas. We cannot do this. Everyone forgets the first part; our territories are illegally occupied,” he said this week.
He has also repeatedly cautioned that any agreement reached without Ukraine’s participation would be a “dead solution” that “will never work".
Many European leaders backed his stance in a virtual meeting hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier this week. They told Trump that Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be preserved and that Kyiv must be directly involved in any land-related negotiations.
French President Emmanuel Macron added that the 79-year-old was “very clear” that a ceasefire was the immediate goal and that Ukraine’s borders could only be negotiated by its president.
The Alaska summit is expected to be a test of whether Putin is serious about stopping the war or merely looking to buy time. For Trump, it is a balancing act between pursuing peace and avoiding concessions that could alienate allies.
Only after outlining the stakes did Trump speak publicly about the consequences for Moscow if talks fail.
Asked whether Russia would face repercussions if Putin refused to stop the war, he said: “Yes, they will.” He was pressed on whether those consequences could include sanctions or tariffs, and responded: “I don't have to say, there will be very severe consequences.”