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‘Getting territory back for Ukraine’ on Trump's agenda as he meets Putin on Aug 15
Trump and Putin are set to meet in Alaska on August 15, marking the first major meeting since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.
Ahead of the highly anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US president has stated that he will "try" to get some territory back for Ukraine.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Trump shared that one of the key agendas during the talks with Putin would be to get back Ukrainian territory seized by Russia. "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," Trump was quoted as saying at the White House.
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Trump and Putin are set to meet in Alaska on August 15, marking the first major meeting between a US president and the Russian leader since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.
Trump's remarks on getting back territory for Kyiv follow his previous statements of a potential "land swap" between Russia and Ukraine.
“The next meeting will be with Zelensky and Putin, or Zelensky and Putin and me. I’ll be there if they need. But I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders, because there’ll be some land swapping going on,” said Trump, hinting at a follow up meeting as he works towards a ceasefire in Ukraine.
However, Ukraine has refused to give up any land. Ukrainian President Zelensky has expressed opposition to any proposal that demands it cede territory to Russia.
Zelensky's remarks came after reports citing US officials claimed that Putin would be ready to stop the war in exchange for territorial concessions.
As per CNN, the Russian plan was presented to Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Moscow last week.
Also Read | Russia Has High Hopes for Trump-Putin Summit. Peace Isn’t One of Them.
Based on this plan, Ukraine would be required to cede the eastern Donbas region — the majority of which is currently occupied by Russia — as well as Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
What Ukraine would gain remains unclear as Kyiv is yet to establish a strong hold in Russia.
Russia has been eyeing the Donbas region, which include Donetsk and Luhansk, the industrial heartland rich in coal, heavy industry and infrastructure, since 2014.
Apart from seeking international recognition for Crimea and the Donbas region as Russian territory, Moscow has also laid out its opposition to NATO expansion, especially with regards with Ukraine's membership, as one of the key conditions for a ceasefire.
