Washington, D.C., August 13, 2025 — U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he plans to arrange a high-level three-way meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, immediately following his upcoming Alaska summit with Putin. The initiative is part of Trump’s renewed push to end the three-year war in Ukraine.
Speaking after what he called a “very good” call with European leaders — including Zelensky — Trump’s announcement came as Russian forces made their most significant territorial advance in Ukraine in more than a year.
“If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” Trump told reporters, referring to Friday’s scheduled face-to-face meeting with Putin in Anchorage. “I would like to do it almost immediately — a quick second meeting between President Putin, President Zelensky, and myself, if they’d like to have me there.”
The Alaska summit comes at a critical moment, as Trump faces mounting pressure to fulfill his campaign promise to secure peace in Ukraine. European allies and Zelensky have urged him to push for a ceasefire. However, concerns are growing that Trump and Putin could strike a deal that would require painful territorial concessions from Ukraine — especially since Zelensky was not invited to the Anchorage talks.
Trump stressed that the follow-up meeting would only proceed if Putin demonstrated sincerity.
“If I feel that it’s not appropriate because I didn’t get the answers we have to have, then we are not going to have a second meeting,” he said.
According to an AFP analysis of battlefield data, Russian troops captured approximately 110 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory on Tuesday — the largest one-day gain in over a year.
Earlier, Zelensky joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, other European leaders, and NATO and EU officials in a joint call with Trump. The united stance was clear: Trump must press Russia to agree to a ceasefire, with the U.S. president warning of “severe consequences” if Moscow refuses.
Still, Zelensky remained skeptical about Putin’s intentions.
“I have told my colleagues — the US president and our European friends — that Putin definitely does not want peace,” he said.
While Trump described Friday’s session as “really a feel-out meeting,” he hinted that future negotiations could involve land swaps. Merz confirmed that Ukraine is willing to discuss certain territorial issues, but stressed that recognizing Russian-occupied areas “would not be up for debate.”
Meanwhile, on the eastern front, Ukrainian forces continue to face intensified Russian offensives. Soldiers stationed near Kramatorsk expressed little optimism for a swift resolution.
“Putin is massing an army, he is stockpiling weapons, he is pulling the wool over our eyes,” said Artem, a 30-year-old serviceman. “This war will likely continue for a long time.”
