U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in the state of Alaska in a summit aimed at reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine. The deal would affirm Russia’s control over the territories it seized during its military operation, according to Bloomberg.
The agency reported Saturday, citing informed sources, that American and Russian officials are working on a draft agreement regarding those territories in preparation for the upcoming summit. Trump has proposed a land-swap deal “to improve the situation for both sides.”
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the report, but President Volodymyr Zelensky later stated that “lasting peace can only be achieved through joint efforts.”
Meanwhile, Russian media reported that preparations for the summit are “complicated” and will focus on resolving the Ukrainian crisis. Moscow is expected to host the next summit after Alaska.
Putin will be the first Russian leader to visit Alaska, with expectations that the meeting will take place in the city of Anchorage, where state officials have confirmed their readiness to host him.
Moscow is demanding control over four Ukrainian regions: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, in addition to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014—despite Russian forces not having full control over all territories in these regions.
While Kyiv has shown flexibility to end the war, losing about one-fifth of its territory poses a political challenge for President Zelensky.
Tyson Barker, former Deputy Special Representative for Economic Recovery in Ukraine at the U.S. State Department, believes Ukrainians “will reject such a proposal,” stressing the need for them to stick to their conditions for a settlement while expressing gratitude for U.S. support. According to Bloomberg, the proposed agreement would halt Russia’s offensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions at the current front lines.