TRUMP THREATENS “SEVERE CONSEQUENCES” FOR RUSSIA IF PUTIN BLOCKS UKRAINE PEACE

US President Donald Trump has warned Russia of “very severe consequences” if President Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine during their upcoming summit in Alaska. Trump made the comments after a virtual meeting with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where they discussed the upcoming talks and the need for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” Trump said, describing the aim of the meeting between the pair in Alaska as “setting the table” for a quick follow-up that would include Zelenskyy. “I would like to do it almost immediately, and we’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself, if they’d like to have me there,” he added.

During the virtual meeting, European leaders and Zelenskyy laid out red lines ahead of the Alaska meeting. French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump agreed that Ukraine must be involved in any discussions about ceding land, while Zelenskyy said Trump supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement. “President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska,” Macron said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who hosted the virtual meeting, emphasized that borders cannot be changed by force and that pressure on Russia should be increased if there is no movement on the Russian side. “If there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and we Europeans should… increase the pressure,” he said.

Zelenskyy expressed concerns that Russia is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska, saying Putin is “bluffing” about his stated wish to end the war. “He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine…,” Zelenskyy said.

The upcoming summit between Trump and Putin is seen as a crucial opportunity to address the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict in Ukraine. However, Russia’s stance remains unchanged, with demands for Ukraine to withdraw its forces from four regions claimed by Russia and renounce its plans to join NATO, conditions Kyiv has rejected as tantamount to surrender.