”The highly anticipated meeting between myself, the President of the United States, and Russia's President Vladimir Putin will take place next Friday, August 15, in the fantastic state of Alaska”, writes Trump and adds that further details will be announced later.
A short while later, a confirmation of the planned meeting came from the Kremlin, which also lets it be known that they have invited Trump to Moscow.
If we look ahead, it is reasonable to hope that the next meeting between the presidents will take place on Russian soil. A corresponding invitation has already been sent to the American president, says Kremlin official Yuri Ushakov.
Trump: Both want peace
Trump said at a press conference earlier on Friday that he looks positively on a meeting with his Russian colleague.
President Putin wants to see peace, I believe, and Zelenskyj wants to see peace.
He also stated that an exchange of territories ”likely” will be part of the peace agreement.
It's not that simple, actually quite complicated. There will be an exchange of territories, to both parties' benefit, and we will talk about it either later today or tomorrow (Saturday) or when it happens.
His statement is in line with information from Bloomberg that Washington and Moscow are striving to reach an agreement that would cement Russia's occupation of several Ukrainian territories.
Matches Putin's demands
According to sources, Vladimir Putin demands that Ukraine hand over the entire eastern Donbass area and the Crimean peninsula to Russia. Putin is also said to want to freeze the front line in Cherson and Zaporizhzhia. According to sources, the United States is working to convince Ukraine and European leaders to support the agreement, which would mean a major victory for Putin.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has, however, previously repeated that they are not willing to give up territories occupied by Russia and that it is against the country's constitution to hand over land.
The plan is essentially similar to the proposals for peace negotiations that Trump has previously presented. It also matches several of the peace demands that Putin has previously presented.
