US President Donald Trump will not discuss the issue of territories at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, NBC and CNN reported, citing sources.
Trump said this during an online conference with European leaders on Wednesday, which was attended by Vladimir Zelensky, the interlocutors said. According to them, the Republican assured that he intends to seek an unconditional cease-fire.
The President of the United States and European leaders agreed that a cease-fire should be reached before the start of peace talks, and Ukraine should participate in discussing the future of the territories and the conditions of peace. Nevertheless, NBC writes, some European leaders have the impression that Trump is “not too optimistic about the results of the meeting with Putin.”
One of the sources told CNN that Trump supported the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine, including with the participation of the United States. At the same time, an unnamed official who previously worked in the US presidential administration added that the Republican “prefers to keep allies on his side,” and “anything can happen at the meeting.”
The videoconference also discussed the introduction of new measures against Russia and secondary sanctions against its trading partners if the meeting “does not go so smoothly,” but Trump did not make any promises in this regard, the TV channel reports. The politician himself had previously threatened “very serious consequences” if Russia did not agree to a cease-fire. Moscow considers Western sanctions illegal, and its lifting was one of the conditions for resolving the conflict with Ukraine.