Days before US President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out handing over any territory to Russia, insisting that peace talks without Ukraine will fail.
In a video statement shared on Saturday, Zelenskyy stressed that his country is ready for “real decisions” to achieve a “dignified peace,” but any agreement must respect Ukraine’s constitution and territorial integrity.
“Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier,” he said, warning that “decisions without Ukraine” would be “stillborn” and unworkable.
His remarks came hours after Trump suggested that a peace deal might involve “some swapping of territories” as he confirmed the Alaska meeting with Putin to discuss the war.
Tensions ahead of alaska summit
The upcoming summit will be the first meeting between sitting US and Russian presidents since 2021. While Trump hopes for a breakthrough, previous negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv this year have failed.
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Putin has said a meeting with Zelenskyy remains possible but only under conditions he considers acceptable—conditions Kyiv and its allies reject, as they involve ceding occupied regions and halting NATO aspirations.
Russia currently claims four partially controlled Ukrainian regions—Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Luhansk—along with Crimea, annexed in 2014.
European allies stand firm
Zelenskyy also spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, urging allies to take “clear steps” toward sustainable peace and resist Russia’s efforts to limit talks to “the impossible.”
Macron reaffirmed that “Ukraine’s future cannot be decided without the Ukrainians,” stressing Europe’s own security is tied to the conflict’s resolution.
Meanwhile, national security advisers from the US, UK, and EU met in Britain to coordinate positions ahead of the Trump-Putin summit. Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko voiced hope that Trump could pressure Putin into accepting a real ceasefire.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the Alaska talks will “focus on achieving a long-term peaceful resolution,” though both sides admit the process will be challenging. The outcome could set the tone for the next phase of the war—and determine whether peace moves closer or remains out of reach.
