European and Ukrainian pressure has thus far failed to yield the desired results. Donald Trump announced that Volodymyr Zelensky will not participate in the upcoming summit between the American President and Vladimir Putin scheduled for Friday in Alaska. Furthermore, Trump stated that for peace to be achieved, the Ukrainian leader must agree to cede territory to Russia as part of a “land swap,” expressing annoyance at Zelensky’s refusal.
Just hours earlier, President Zelensky had unequivocally declared, “Concessions to Putin will not convince him to end the war.” He reiterated his call for partners to exert “stronger pressure” on Moscow, adding, “Concessions don’t convince a murderer, but a truly strong defense of life stops murderers.” Since the announcement of the mid-August Trump-Putin summit, Zelensky has engaged in intense diplomatic consultations, particularly with European capitals.
Meanwhile, the EU announced that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, coordinated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, plans calls Wednesday with other European leaders (including Giorgia Meloni), Zelensky, and Trump himself. French President Emmanuel Macron stated he will consult via videoconference the same day with two other representatives of the Coalition of the Willing: Chancellor Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Another Coalition leader, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, reiterated that Kyiv must be involved in peace talks and Russia cannot be allowed to challenge borders “with impunity.”
Trump, however, appears undeterred. “There will be a land swap, I know this from Russia,” he asserted, criticizing Zelensky’s resistance: “He had approval to go to war and kill everyone, but he needs approval for a land swap?” This reference addressed Ukrainian objections that territorial cession would require constitutional amendments. Trump emphasized Zelensky’s exclusion from the Alaska summit: “I will speak with Putin, I will tell him to end the war,” expecting a “constructive dialogue.” He outlined a potential sequence: “If it’s a fair deal, I will reveal it to the Europeans, NATO, and Zelensky. I’ll call him first and might say ‘good luck, keep fighting,’ or I might say we can make a deal.” Trump suggested a subsequent meeting could then occur “between Zelensky and Putin, or Zelensky, Putin and me,” adding he would attend only if necessary, preferring to facilitate direct talks between the two leaders.
Trump spoke almost protectively of Putin: “I think it’s very respectful that the President of Russia is coming to our country… I think if it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t be talking to anyone else right now.” He hinted at future sanctions relief and normalized trade, remarking, “Russia has a very valuable country if Vladimir Putin were dedicated to business instead of war.”
On the ground, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the capture of another village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Local Russian authorities reported one killed and two wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike on an industrial zone in Nizhny Novgorod region, hundreds of kilometres from the front line. Ukrainian agency Ukrinform reported the strike targeted a missile component factory. Ukrainian authorities separately reported six people wounded in a Russian bombardment in the Kherson region and six more in Dnipropetrovsk region.
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