White House Mulls Inviting Zelensky To Trump-Putin Talks In Alaska

The White House is weighing the possibility of inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Alaska for Friday’s summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, several sources in the Trump administration have told media oulets. 

“It’s under discussion,” a person briefed on the matter told NBC. This despite Puting having repeatedly said it would be too early for him to meet with the Ukrainain leader, and that he’d only do so to sign a final peace settlement to end the war.

The Kremlin has made clear that the warring sides are nowhere near that point, and has even questioned the legla legitimacy of Zelensky’s tenure in office far past the canceled elections.

No plans have been finalized, and it’s as yet unlcear whether Zelensky will actually travel to Alaska for talks. Yet a senior US official has said idea is “absolutely” still on the table.

“Everyone is very hopeful it will happen,” the official added. And yet it could cause Putin to get cold feet if he senses undue pressure in this regard.

Putin is unlikley to want to be in the same room, or even the same venue as talks proceed. Zelensky made clear on Saturday that he’s unwilling to make a key compromise demanded of Russia. 

I welcome the upcoming meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Russia’s President Putin being held here in the great state of Alaska.

Alaska is the most strategic location in the world, sitting at the crossroads of North America and Asia, with the Arctic to our north and…

— Governor Mike Dunleavy (@GovDunleavy) August 8, 2025

Zelensky firmly declared that Ukrainians “will not give their land to occupiers” and that nothing can be decided in this regard without direct representation and input from Kiev. He was very clear on this point:

“Any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine, are at the same time decisions against peace.” He then clarified Ukriane’s position further, “They will bring nothing. These are dead decisions; they will never work.”

But Putin will settle for nothing less than Ukraine formally ceding the four eastern territories which have already been declared part of the Russian Federation after a referendum which Kiev rejected. These are Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

Additionally, Ukriane has not issued clarification on whether it is at least ready to given up Crimea. Drone attacks have conintued to target Crimea, and other southern portions of Russia – especially targeting oil refineries and energy infrastructure…

Ukraine imposes its own sanctions on the Russian oil industry after Trump let his Friday deadline lapse without action. https://t.co/0Ny7nFfU15

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) August 10, 2025

Yet Trump seems to think land will be central to negotiations – even though the Ukrainians, and Europeans for that matter, are clearly not on board. “We will not reward Russia,” Zelensky has also vowed, in line with many European leaders – who also want a seat at the table.

“We’re going to get some back, and we’re going to get some switched,” Trump had said during a Friday event at the White House, as quoted in the NY Times. “There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.” But this is anything but clear, as the Alaska summit fast approaches.