Trump Tells European Leaders He’s Seeking Ceasefire At Alaska Summit, But Zelensky Insists Putin ‘Bluffing’

“As of today, there are no serious territorial exchange plans on the table,” President Emmanuel Macron of France told reporters Wednesday after he participated in a phone call with President Trump as well as European leaders.

Macron, alongside the Europeans, is insisting that no one other than the Zelensky government could negotate a land swap or sign on to a peace deal. Trump has told President Zelensky that he wants a ceasefire from the Putin summit, which is to be held at a US military base in Anchorage on Friday.

During the Wednesday virtual call, Zelensky reporteldy told Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “bluffing” and that he doesn’t “want peace” - but instead is just buying time while seeking increased credibility on a global stage. The Ukrianian leader again lobbied Trump to levy more sanctions on Moscow. NATO chief Mark Rutte, meanwhile, has said “the ball is now in Putin’s court.” But the reality is that Putin currently has more leverage than ever. Still, Trump is warning of “very severe consequences” if Putin doesn’t sign on to a deal.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, who was also on the call, said Trump agrees that security guarantees for Ukraine should be prioritized as part of any peace negotiations.

But on the question of territorial concessions – which from Moscow’s point of is the central issue (alongside no NATO membership) – Kiev does appear to be softening its position, possibly willing to accept a status quo of de facto Russian occupation of the eastern Donbas:

Both Mr. Merz and Mr. Zelensky told reporters that Mr. Trump had agreed to five principles for the talks with Mr. Putin. They include keeping Ukraine “at the table” for follow-up meetings on the war and refusing to discuss peace terms, like swaps of land between Russia and Ukraine, before a cease-fire is put in place.

They said Ukraine would be willing to discuss changes in territory — including ceding some land to Russia — but that it would not discuss legally recognizing Russia’s occupation of parts of the country.

However, the Kremlin has already long declared the four territories and Crimea part of the Russan Federation, and so this will be a potentially serious hang up. More from Trump:

• TRUMP: FIRST MEETING WITH PUTIN IS FINDING OUT WHAT WE’RE DOING
• TRUMP: SECOND MEETING WITH PUTIN WILL BE MORE PRODUCTIVE
• TRUMP: MAY NOT HAVE 2ND MEETING IF I DON’T GET ANSWERS I WANT
• TRUMP: IF FIRST PUTIN MEETING GOES WELL, I’LL SEEK A TRILATERAL
• TRUMP: SECOND MEETING WOULD BE ZELENSKIY, PUTIN

The West still wanting NATO future membership on the table will also be a serious non-starter and red line for Moscow. According to the NY Times:

The principles also include insisting on security guarantees for Ukraine after the war — including retaining its right to potentially join NATO in the future — and a commitment to ramping up economic pressure on Russia if negotiations do not lead to an agreement.

The reality remains that this is likely the West’s and Ukraine’s last chance effort to find peace. Putin is in the driver’s seat on the battlefield and he knows it.

Merz said there could be “major decisions” made during the Trump-Putin summit as he said Europeans are therefore “doing everything we can in order to lay the groundwork to make sure that this meeting goes the right way.” –CNN

The past several days have seen multiple headlines of massive evacuations of Ukrainian towns and villages from the east near the front lines, including ten more just on Wednesday, because of consistent Russian gains.

Russia under Putin has shown its ability to weather sanctions just fine, and the Kremlin has still not actually declared a full state war yet. So if Moscow wanted to, it could ramp up further and declare full societal mobilization, but it’s still at the legal desigation of ‘Special Military Operation’.