Friday's Russia/U.S. "Feel-Out Meeting" in Alaska

"[Putin] is  trying to apply pressure ... on all sectors of the Ukrainian front [attempting to demonstrate that Russia is] capable of occupying all of Ukraine. [He] is bluffing [ahead of the meeting planned with Trump]."

"[He is also bluffing on sanctions] as if they do not matter to him and are ineffective. In reality, sanctions are very helpful and are hitting Russia's war economy hard. "

"[There is] currently no sign that the Russians are preparing to end the war. Pressure must be applied on Russia for an honest peace."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

 

"[The virtual meeting with Trump was] constructive [and] important decisions [could be made in Anchorage, but] fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected [at the summit]."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz 

 

"[The Trump administration is making] quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the fighting, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict."

"[Those efforts are intended] to create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe, and in the world as a whole."

Russian President Vladimir Putin

 

"We’re going to see what happens with our meeting. We have a big meeting. It’s going to be, I think, very important for Russia, and it’s going to be very important for us."

"[The earth minerals are] very unimportant [compared to] trying to save lives."

U.S. President Donald Trump

 

"For the second month in a row, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine hits a new three-year high."

"Only the first three months after the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine saw more killed and injured than in this past month."

Danielle Bell, head, U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) 

 

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have not met in person for six years (file picture)   Getty Images

 

 During the virtual meeting held Wednesday with European leaders convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, U.S. President Donald Trump was "very clear" that the U.S. plans to achieve a ceasefire at the Friday scheduled U.S.-Russia Summit scheduled for Alaska. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at that same meeting informed the group that Russian President Putin "is bluffing" ahead of the meeting with Trump.

He may be bluffing with Trump to reassure the American president that what he really wants is just what Trump wants; a ceasefire and a peace agreement with a cessation of conflict. That bluff includes Putin's determined plans to carry on the conflict despite his assurances to Trump, to advantage Russia with more victories on the battlefield, creeping closer to taking military possession of more Ukrainian land.

Kremlin officials slated to accompany Putin to the Friday summit in Alaska have not been shy in reiterating Putin's intractability on his conflict goals. The war, they reiterate, will end only once Russia has gained full sovereignty over those regions in Ukraine it now partially occupies -- Donetsk and Luhansk -- known more familiarly as the Donbas, along with Kherson and Zaporizhzhia -- along with a pledge by Kyiv for demilitarization, and that Ukraine not join the NATO military alliance of Western nations.

"We will not withdraw from the Donbas. We cannot do that."

"Everyone forgets the first part: our territories are illegally occupied."

"For the Russians, the Donbas is a bridgehead for a future new offensive [that would] pave the way [for further conflict on Ukrainian soil if he surrendered the region]."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy  

As a follow-up to the video conference between Trump, Zelenskyy and the other European leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron observed that Trump was prioritizing a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia; Trump had been clear that "territorial issues relating to Ukraine" ... will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president.

 

Once the Friday meeting concludes, President Trump  plans to "seek a future trilateral meeting" with Putin and Zelenskyy -- "I think that's a very important point in this regard, and we hope that it can be held in Europe, in a neutral country that is acceptable to all parties", Macron concluded. Countries involved in the "coalition of the willing", who are prepared to help police a subsequent future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, were expected to join a call for further discussion.

 

Zelenskyy  revealed that his government has conducted numerous conversations with partners prior to the Alaska summit, revealing his doubt that Putin would negotiate in good faith. Trump spoke of his intention to determine whether Putin is serious about ending the conflict now approaching its fourth year; that Friday's summit is a "feel-out meeting" to enable him to assess Mr. Putin's intentions. Allies in Europe are dismayed with Trump's conclusion that Ukraine must concede some of the territory held by Russia. 

 

Trump and Zelensky at the White House in February. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

 

When repeatedly asked directly about Ukrainian concessions and their potential to encourage President Putin to the belief there will be no consequences to his invasion of Ukraine, President Trump leaves no room to hope that Russia will not  be rewarded for its aggression that has impacted both Russia and Ukraine with a horrendous death and injury toll among the combatants. Mr. Trump avoided saying he would have Zelenskyy participate in discussions with Putin. 

 

Putin, the European leaders are concerned, may attempt to use Russia's energy resources to intimidate the European Union for favourable concessions while setting peace agreement outlines without their participation, fearing that the Russian president will not hesitate to set his sights on one or more of their countries, should there be no punitive consequences linked to his invasion of Ukraine. 

 

According to President Zelenskyy, his territorial adversary wants Ukraine to withdraw from the 30 percent of the Donetsk region still controlled by Ukraine, as part of a ceasefire agreement -- a proposal the Ukrainian president has long since categorically turned down as voluntarily unfeasible as a reward for the unbridled aggression that Russian forces have displayed in constantly targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

 

 

President Trump, Peacemaker

"He [President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he's ready for Peace."

"Don't tell us what we're going to feel. You're in no position to dictate that. You're right now not in a very good position. You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards."

"You're gambling with lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country -- this country, that's backed you!"

"Far more than a lot of people said they should have."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump 

"Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media."

"You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict."

"You bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President."

"Have you said thank you once? In this entire meeting, have you said thank you? … Offer some words of appreciation for the U.S.A. and the president who's trying to save your country?" 

U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance

 

"Have you ever been to Ukraine? Come once?"

"First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you." 

"But you have nice ocean and don't feel now, but  you will feel it in the future."

"I'm not playing cards. I'm very serious, Mr. President. I'm very serious."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, is shown with U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Vice-President JD Vance at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Friday. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

"This is going to be great television", President Trump said, after cancelling a scheduled news conference following the Oval Office meeting with President Zelenskyy. "I hope I'll be known and recognized as a peacemaker", he said while still in the Oval Office. Prior to the meeting Mr. Trump reaffirmed that military assistance for Ukraine would be continued; the United States, he repeated, was still committed to NATO and the protection of Poland.

 

Earlier, the discussions that took place between Messrs. Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy graduated from a calm atmosphere that soon degenerated into a shouting match between the two American leaders joining their loud voices assailing the Ukrainian president. This was clearly an unusual display of Oval Office diplomacy. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Vance emphasizing in no uncertain terms to Mr. Zelenskyy that he was in no position to demand, or even politely request anything of the United States. 

 

Zelenskyy's caution over signing away Ukraine's mineral rights, insisting a security guarantee accompany such an agreement, raised his interlocutors' hackles.

They charged him with derailing a rare opportunity for peace. A cordial meeting turned into an exchange of bitter accusations. Of course, such an exchange might have been  anticipated to some degree, given President Trump's previous characterizations of President Zelenskyy as a 'dictator' and casting Ukraine as the aggressor, not Russia, in the three-year-old conflict. The unprovoked Kremlin drive into Ukraine suddenly became a reversed situation; somehow Ukraine had provoked Moscow into its military incursion across the border.

This, despite President Zelenskyy outlining Vladimir Putin's aggressively violent behaviour from 2014 forward. To Vice-President Vance's admonition "Have you said thank you once, in this entire meeting?", President Zelenskyy responded that he has often given thanks to the American people for their support in Ukraine's war effort. "Your country is in big trouble", said Vance. "You're not winning this. Then you tell us, 'I don't want a ceasefire. I don't want a ceasefire', mocked Trump. 

When a reporter present in the chamber enquired what might occur should Russia break a ceasefire, President Trump returned: "What if a bomb drops on your head right now?" Turning back to Zelenskyy, Trump repeated: "You don't have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you're in a much better position. But you're not acting at all thankful. And that's not a nice thing." Whereupon he ordered reporters to leave the room. 

World leaders have reacted to the combative Oval Office meeting witnessed by a room full of media that saw U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and calling him ‘disrespectful’ during the meeting in Washington that was meant to negotiate an agreement between the two nations.

As far as President Trump is concerned he has faith that Vladimir Putin has a wish to  end the war and would be prepared to respect any peace agreement that could be agreed upon. He utters no criticism of Russia's President and has made it abundantly clear that he supports Moscow and Pyongyang against Ukraine, adequately proven by a vote at the United Nations marking the war's third anniversary.

"Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit. Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later wrote on X.

Zelenskyy leaves after a news conference with Trump was canceled following their Oval Office meeting on Friday. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)

"Many Americans will be appalled by this. Most Americans do not want to see this kind of public bullying and humiliation of some ally, which is fighting for its life."

"I think this has very long historical implications, I think this is most unfortunate, and it is not over."

"Trump can change his mind in a New York minute, but what has happened today has been something that will darken whatever legacy [Trump] has forever."

Aurel Braun, professor of international relations and political science, University of Toronto, associate, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

"[The shouting] was the most appalling display of the most appalling behaviour I have ever witnessed from a Western leader."

"I think this was deliberately set up to humiliate President Zelenskyy. I think they attempted to humiliate him, but I think that President Zelenskyy stood up proud and stood his ground with Trump and with Vance."

"I think they were trying to provoke him because they are becoming accustomed to Western leaders coming to the white House and kissing the ring." 

Alexandra Chyczij, head, Ukrainian Canadian Congress