Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday (August 12, 2025) that Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had scored a "personal victory" by getting invited to talks with Donald Trump on U.S. soil, and that the meeting further delayed sanctions on Moscow. Mr. Zelensky also ruled out withdrawing troops from Ukraine's eastern Donbas region as part of a peace deal, after Mr. Trump suggested he and Mr. Putin might negotiate a land swap to end the war.
The summit, set to take place in Alaska on Friday, will be the first between a sitting U.S. and Russian president since 2021 and comes as Mr. Trump seeks to broker an end to Russia's nearly three-and-a-half year war in Ukraine.
