Zelensky says the Trump-Putin summit will achieve nothing, vows that Ukraine will not give up its lands

2025-08-09 18:27:04Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Zelensky says the Trump-Putin summit will achieve nothing, vows that Ukraine
President of Ukraine Volodomyr Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky downplayed the planned summit between US President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that any peace deal that excludes Kiev will lead to "dead solutions".

In a statement posted on Telegram, Zelensky said that Ukraine's territorial integrity, sanctioned in its constitution, must be non-negotiable, and stressed that lasting peace must include Ukraine's voice at the table.

Zelensky said that Ukraine "will not give Russia any price for what it has done" and that "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier".

Speaking about Ukrainians' anxieties that a direct meeting between Trump and Putin could marginalize the interests of Kiev and Europe, Zelenskyy said: "Any decision that is without Ukraine is at the same time a decision against peace. They will bring nothing. These are dead decisions. They will never work."

Trump and Putin plan to meet in Alaska on Friday, August 15 - a summit that is seen as a possible breakthrough.

A senior White House official told CBS News that planning for the summit is unstable and it's still possible that Zelensky will be involved in some way.

The White House said earlier this week that Trump is open to meeting with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, but Trump himself suggested on Friday that he could start by meeting only with Putin. He told reporters that he plans to "start with Russia". Trump also said he believes he "has a chance of" hosting a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

In his comments to reporters, Trump also suggested that any deal would likely involve "an exchange of territories," but did not provide details.

His announcement that he planned to host one of America's opponents on American soil broke expectations that they would meet in a third country. This gesture gives Putin validity as the US and its allies had long sought to make him a pariah because of his war against Ukraine.


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