Washington, United States – The White House is considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Alaska. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin there on August 15, US media reported.
An NBC report on Saturday quoted a senior US official and three people familiar with the internal discussions. According to one person briefed on the talks, “the matter is being discussed.”
According to a White House official, “Trump is open to holding a tripartite summit in Alaska with Putin and Zelensky.” The White House is currently planning to hold a bilateral meeting at Putin’s request.
President Trump said on Friday that he would meet Putin on August 15 in Alaska.
In statements to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump proposed an agreement that includes a land exchange. Trump stated: “There will be a land exchange to improve the situation of both”.
Close neighbors
“Russia and the United States are close neighbors and challenge each other,” Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency. He added, “It seems perfectly logical that our delegation would fly across the Bering Strait. The important and eagerly awaited summit between the leaders of the two countries would be held in Alaska.”
According to Ushakov, “Presidents Putin and Trump will focus on discussing options to achieve a long-term peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis”.
The Kremlin also said it invited Trump to visit Russia after the summit meeting with Putin in Alaska.
Bloomberg reported that Washington and Moscow are seeking to reach an agreement to stop the war in Ukraine. This would prove Russia’s control over the territories it seized during its military operation.
The supposed agreement reported by Bloomberg stipulates that Russia will stop its attack in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. This would be along the current battle lines.
Putin demands control of four Ukrainian regions: Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. He also demands control of the Crimean Peninsula overlooking the Black Sea, which he annexed in 2014.
Ukraine has previously expressed its willingness to be flexible. They are making efforts to end a war that has destroyed cities and towns and claimed the lives of large numbers of its soldiers and citizens.
