Trump and Putin’s Secret Alaska Summit: A Contentious Proposal to End the Ukraine War

Ukraine and Europe have previously rejected a similar Witkoff plan due to lack of security guarantees. Putin has refused direct talks with Zelensky and insists on objectives such as Ukraine’s disarmament and guaranteeing its neutrality; Europe is concerned about joint pressure by Trump and Putin on Kyiv.

Jonathan Edwards, senior international correspondent for The Washington Post, wrote: Donald Trump, President of the United States, and Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, are scheduled to meet next week on U.S. soil; according to sources on both sides, the meeting aims to advance a peaceful agreement — one that may include significant territorial concessions by Ukraine.

According to Trump and a Putin aide, this meeting will take place on August 15 in the state of Alaska, focusing on achieving a ceasefire and ending the war that Russia began three and a half years ago with its invasion of Ukraine. Trump has not specified whether Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, will also attend this session.

Peace in Exchange for Ceding Ukrainian Territory

Earlier that day, Donald Trump told reporters that the conditions of a peace agreement could include ceding parts of Ukrainian territory to Russia — a concession that Kyiv and its European supporters would find extremely difficult to accept. He explained: “We are talking about territory for which there has been fighting for three and a half years. You know, many Russians have died, many Ukrainians have died. There will be some territorial exchanges that benefit both sides.”

Momentum to hold a meeting between Trump and Putin accelerated from Wednesday, when Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, met with the Russian president in Moscow for three hours.

Following this meeting, Witkoff brought back a proposal from Putin to Washington; according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, this “for the first time” includes specific details of Russia’s demands to end the war.

However, it remains unclear exactly what Trump means by “territorial exchange.” Currently, Ukraine holds only about four square miles of Russian territory in the western Kursk region, while Russia occupies nearly one-fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. In August 2024, Ukrainian forces captured about 500 square miles of Russian land, but after a year of retreat, most of this gain was lost, reducing the significance of territorial exchange.

The Big Trump-Putin Deal: Ceding Donbas in Exchange for Ceasefire?

Russia has long insisted that any peace agreement must recognize its sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, which it illegally annexed in 2014, as well as four eastern Ukrainian regions: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Currently, Moscow has full control over Luhansk but has not yet secured all of Donetsk or captured its key cities.

Russian forces withdrew from Kherson in 2022 following a Ukrainian counteroffensive, although they still control parts of this region. Moscow also maintains control over parts of Zaporizhzhia province but has never captured the provincial capital, which now hosts a large population of internally displaced Ukrainians from towns and villages near the frontline.

Ukraine has explicitly declared that any agreement involving ceding still-unoccupied areas to Russia is unacceptable to Kyiv.

Trump also noted that Zelensky faces constitutional legal limits on any territorial concessions. He said: “You know, he’s not allowed to do some things.” Referring to the Ukrainian president, Trump added: “I told him: well, you have to do it quickly, because, you know, we are very close to a deal. And he is working on it.”

Several locations worldwide were considered for the Trump-Putin meeting. Putin even publicly suggested the United Arab Emirates. However, some places, such as Rome, could pose problems, since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of children from Ukraine. Since the United States is not a member of this court, choosing Alaska as the meeting site removes this legal barrier.

The main challenge remains whether the United States can find a way to bridge the gap between Putin’s demands and what Ukraine and its European allies are willing to accept. According to a person familiar with the negotiations, Russia proposed to Witkoff that Kyiv cede the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine — including Luhansk and Donetsk — in exchange for a ceasefire. This source emphasized that it remains unclear whether Moscow is willing to relinquish contested areas in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia’s territorial gains in these two regions have created a vital “land bridge” to Crimea — a key route for the military and economic supply transfer to this strategic peninsula.

Russian Leverage in Negotiations or a Potential Nuclear Disaster Risk?

Russia also controls the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power facility. This installation has remained inactive since its capture in 2022 and has been repeatedly flagged as a potential source of catastrophic risks.

Control of this plant has been repeatedly discussed during negotiations. According to Russia’s proposal, the annexation of Crimea must be officially recognized as part of its sovereign territory.

Tatiana Stanovaya, senior researcher at the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Russia and Eurasia Program, believes it unlikely that Moscow has changed its stance on its war aims — which include disarming Ukraine, removing what Kremlin calls the “anti-Russian Zelensky regime,” and guaranteeing Kyiv’s neutrality.

Only days ago, Putin made a calculated visit to an island monastery in Valaam, northeast Russia, reiterating that his conditions for ending the war remain unchanged. He claimed that by capturing Ukrainian lands, Russia is reclaiming its “own territory,” called the Ukrainian government “illegal,” and insisted that Russia’s heavy casualties have not been in vain.

Stanovaya also emphasized: “The land itself is not as important. Given that Moscow signals that Witkoff’s proposal might be acceptable, it shows the U.S. is ready to talk about issues that Russia calls the ‘root causes of the conflict.’”

Why Didn’t Europe and Ukraine Surrender to Russia?

In April, Europe and Ukraine rejected Witkoff’s proposed plan, which included the complete lifting of U.S. economic sanctions on Russia, Ukraine’s neutrality, and recognition of the territories Russia had captured by that time. The war would have “stopped” along current frontlines.

Ukrainian and European officials argued that these terms provided no credible security guarantees for Ukraine and would effectively allow Russia to return and seize more territory in the future. According to Tatiana Stanovaya, the Kremlin believes Zelensky is now militarily and politically much weaker than last spring, as Russia has gained more ground on the battlefield in recent months.

European leaders are concerned that holding this meeting could lead to an alliance between Trump and Putin aimed at imposing terms on Ukraine. A senior European official, following talks about the possible meeting, said: “Despite all the bluster, Trump has not put any real pressure on Putin, while analysts in Russia believe Putin is confident he can win the war and achieve his objectives — including forcing Ukraine to surrender, disarm, destroy its defensive capabilities, and prevent its NATO membership.”

Ukrainian officials had hoped the United States would pressure Putin to agree to a trilateral meeting including Zelensky.

According to a Ukrainian official, early discussions among American, European, and Ukrainian authorities involved two bilateral meetings: one between Trump and Putin, another between Trump and Zelensky, followed by a joint session with all three. However, Putin has firmly rejected any direct talks with Zelensky, viewing such a meeting as recognition of the Ukrainian president as an equal counterpart.

On Thursday, Putin stated: “For such a meeting to happen, conditions must be met. Unfortunately, we are still far from those conditions.”

Yuri Ushakov, a senior Kremlin official, announced on Thursday that Steve Witkoff proposed a trilateral meeting during his Wednesday meeting with Putin, but “the Russian side completely and without any comment rejected this option.”

Ushakov emphasized: “First and foremost, we suggest focusing on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we believe the most important issue is to hold a successful and constructive meeting.”