By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will hold a summit at the US Joint Military Base in Alaska on Friday, August 15 as the stakes are high, media reported.
Both leaders are meeting to discuss ways to end the Russia-Ukraine war even as the outcome of the summit is difficult to predict due to conflicting interests of Moscow and Kyiv.
Russia has reiterated that its stance on ending the war in Ukraine has not changed.
Russia’s position remains unchanged, and it was voiced in this very hall just over a year ago, on June 14, 2024,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesperson, Alexei Fadee told reporters on Wednesday.
Putin had set out his conditions to end the war withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and abandonment of Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.
Russia controls around 20 per cent of Ukrainian territories and Putin wants Ukraine to recognize Crimea, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk as part of the Russian Federation.
US President Trump is also said to be open to the idea of a “land-for-peace deal”.
Ukraine has said that it will not agree to ceding its territories to Russia and will never recognize Russian occupation of its land.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky said hours after Trump announced his summit with Putin “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier”.
The outcome of meeting between Trump and Putin also holds significance for India as the US President has accused New Delhi of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariffs on India, saying New Delhi was helping Russia in the war by purchasing its oil.
US might remove that additional 25 per cent tariffs on Indian imports to the US if the two leaders agree to end war in Ukraine.
