THE White House is said to be considering inviting Volodymyr Zelensky to attend Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s Alaska summit.
Trump and Putin are set to hold crunch talks over ending the war in Ukraine on Friday with sources close to the US President saying they are “very hopeful” Ukraine’s leader will be included.
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One senior administration official told NBC News that a trilateral meeting remains “absolutely” possible.
Another official briefed on White House conversations said: “It’s being discussed.”
It is believed that no official invite has been talked about with Kyiv as of yet.
A senior White House official explained: “Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin.”
Zelensky has already been adamant that he must be involved in any peace talks as they directly impact on the future of his country.
Speaking overnight, the brave leader said any pact struck without Kyiv’s involvement would be “stillborn decisions against peace” and would fail before they even began.
“Any decisions that are against us, any decisions that are without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace,” he said.
“They will not achieve anything.”
His powerful stance has now been echoed by European leaders.
Sir Keir Starmer and the leaders of France, Italy, Poland, Finland and the EU all issued a stark warning saying there can be no peace without Ukraine.
A strongly-worded statement read: “We share the conviction that a diplomatic solution must protect Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.
“The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.
“We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force.
“The current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.
“We are united as Europeans and determined to jointly promote our interests.”
European officials have also put forward an alternative proposal to help end the war, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It comes after reports suggested Washington and Moscow are eyeing a territorial “swap” agreement to end the war.
This would see both side concede to losing out ground to each other – a move which Russia would likely view as a triumph.
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Zelensky is adamant that he will never allow for any territory to be claimed by Moscow due to the illegal conflict.
Europe believes that the only way exchanging territory can be allowed is if Kyiv are safeguarded by security guarantees.
When Ukraine pulls out of a region, Russia must withdraw from another to maintain fairness.
Moscow must also commit and adhere to a ceasefire before any further steps are taken.
A potential three-way meeting with Zelensky, Trump and Putin would mark the first time the two war leaders have spoken since the conflict.
Zelensky has constantly asked to sit down with Putin in person in the past so he can remind the despot of his atrocities to his face.
But Putin has signalled reluctance on meeting Zelensky directly.
He recently said: “I have nothing against it in general… But certain conditions must be created for this.
“But unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.”
The US president also dismissed claims that next week’s historic summit hinges on a three-way meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Asked if Putin needed to meet Zelensky in order to meet him, Trump clarified: “No, he doesn’t.”
Despite that, the White House is preparing for the possible bilateral or trilateral summit.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed: “The White House is working through the details of these potential meetings… details will be provided at the appropriate time.”
Who has the upper hand?
by Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter
RIGHT now, everything hangs in the balance – and the power dynamic could shift in a heartbeat.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former British Army officer and military analyst, said the fact the summit is even happening is a win in itself.
But as for who’s calling the shots? That’s where things get complicated.
Noting the Russian leader still believes he’s making ground in Ukraine, the expert told The Sun: “Until fairly recently, it’s been pretty clear that President Putin has absolutely no desire for peace.
“His aim at the beginning of his special military operation over three and a half years ago was to subjugate the whole of Ukraine.”
According to de Bretton-Gordon, Trump has only recently woken up to the fact that he’s being played.
“It would appear that Trump has had a bit of an epiphany, a bit of a change of mind, and has now realised that Putin has been playing him.”
And now, Don is bringing the businessman in him and threatening to hit Russia where it hurts most: the wallet.
“If Trump follows through with his sanctions and tariffs… then this is the reason I think that Putin has come to the table,” de Bretton-Gordon explained.
“Economic and financial analysts who really know about these things believe that the Russian economy would peter out pretty quickly without the massive amounts of money and resources it gets from oil.”
In other words, Trump holds the economic sledgehammer — if he’s willing to swing it.
But Putin isn’t out of the game. His forces are still advancing, still hammering Ukrainian cities, and still killing civilians.
“Russia seems to be moving forward slowly,” de Bretton-Gordon warned.
“Attacking civilian targets in Ukraine at an unbelievable scale.”
Zelensky, meanwhile, remains the wild card.
“The people who are most important here are the Ukrainians,” he said.
“A bad deal for Ukraine is worse than no deal at all.”
And that’s the real risk. Trump might be chasing headlines, not justice.
“I think Trump probably just wants to get a deal of some description,” the former army officer said.
“One just hopes that Trump doesn’t try and do some sort of backhand deal with Putin, just so that he can claim that there is now peace in Ukraine, because the short-term peace is no good to anybody.”
So who has the upper hand? Right now, it’s still up for grabs.
But if Trump sticks to his economic guns, and if Putin starts to feel the heat on the home front, the balance might just tip.
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