Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday (August 12, 2025) that Russian President Vladimir Putin had achieved a “personal victory” by being invited to talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump on American soil, adding that the meeting would delay the imposition of new sanctions on Moscow.
The summit, scheduled for Friday in Alaska, will be the first meeting between a sitting U.S. and Russian president since 2021. Trump aims to broker an end to Russia’s nearly three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine. Zelensky, who is not slated to attend, voiced concern that Russia could present hard-line demands and that Trump might negotiate a deal requiring Ukraine to cede large areas of territory.
“We will not withdraw from the Donbas,” Zelensky stressed. “If we withdraw today — our fortifications, our terrain, the heights we control — we will clearly open a bridgehead for the Russians to prepare an offensive.” The Donbas includes Ukraine’s eastern regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, both claimed by Russia since its 2022 invasion.
Zelensky argued that Friday’s summit would effectively push back new U.S. sanctions against Russia — sanctions Trump had promised to impose if Putin refused to stop the war. “First, he will meet on U.S. territory, which I consider his personal victory. Second, he is coming out of isolation because he is meeting on U.S. territory. Third, with this meeting, he has somehow postponed sanctions,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader also mentioned receiving a “signal” from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff that Russia might be open to a ceasefire, though he provided no further details.
In preparation for the summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio said in a radio interview that Trump did not see the meeting as a “concession” to Russia. The White House confirmed that the meeting was arranged at Putin’s request. Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said the goal was for the president “to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.”
On the battlefield, Zelensky warned that Russian forces had made significant gains near the coal mining town of Dobropillia and were planning new offensives on at least three different sections of the front line. “Russian units have advanced 10 kilometres deep in several spots. They have no equipment, only weapons in their hands. Some have already been found, some destroyed, some taken prisoner. We will find the rest and destroy them in the near future,” he said.
