After floating the idea of “land swaps” to end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15, United States President Donald Trump said he would try to “get some territory back for Ukraine” that Russia has annexed since starting the war in 2022.
“Russia’s occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We’re going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine,” Donald Trump said, adding, “There’ll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody, to the good of Ukraine.”
Donald Trump also claimed that he would know “in the first two minutes” of his meeting with Vladimir Putin whether he’s willing to make a deal to end the war on Ukraine.
The US President also said that he is going there [to Alaska] to “see what he has in mind.”
“At the end of that meeting, probably the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made…I’m going to be telling him, ‘You’ve got to end this war.” Also Read | What will Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin discuss in Alaska? Is India tariffs on cards? Agenda revealed
He said he thought Friday’s sitdown with Putin in Alaska would be “really a feel-out meeting.” Trump added that “it’ll be good, but it might be bad” and predicted he may say, “lots of luck, keep fighting. Or I may say, we can make a deal.”
Donald Trump also reiterated his “land swap” pitch, saying that Kyiv and Moscow will both have to cede land to end the war in Ukraine, dismissing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s assertion that the country’s Constitution bars ceding territory to an invader.
He has, so far, not been invited to participate in the Trump-Putin talks.