US President Donald Trump, speaking about the meeting scheduled for August 15 with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, caused great public interest and debate. Already in the first minutes of his speech at the press conference, he made an inaccurate slip of the tongue, saying that he would go to Russia for negotiations with Putin.
In reality, the situation is completely different: Putin will travel to the US state of Alaska to have a conversation with Trump. Trump himself also emphasized this, explaining his words “I will meet with Putin. On Friday, I will go to Russia” as a slip of the tongue. Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Svetlana Zhurova explained this by saying that Trump closely associates Putin with Russia.
Trump described this meeting as “preliminary” and “trial,” noting that the main goal is to understand Moscow’s position on resolving the conflict in Ukraine. He did not hide that he intends to persuade Putin to end the conflict, as well as to clarify the issue of granting Ukraine a number of territorial concessions.
At the same time, Trump admitted that if the meeting yields no result, he might leave the negotiation process. In his opinion, five minutes is enough to assess the possibility of an agreement. “I may leave and wish good luck. And that will be the end of it,” he said.
Trump also criticized Zelensky’s position. According to him, the President of Ukraine, citing the country’s constitution, refuses to end the conflict through territorial concessions, despite the fact that a large part of the population supports a peace agreement with Russia.
Trump added that after negotiations with Putin, he would definitely call Zelensky. “Zelensky was allowed to start the war, but to exchange land, he needs constitutional permission. Some land exchanges will take place,” Trump said with confidence.
Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Volodymyr Oliynyk warned that the Kyiv regime might stage provocations to disrupt the meeting. According to him, Ukraine’s authorities, together with their partners in Europe, are now opposing territorial concessions and demanding NATO membership. This contradicts potential agreements between Moscow and Washington.
Ukrainian media have already gone into panic. The territorial issue is expected to be one of the main topics of negotiations between Trump and Putin. At the same time, due to Zelensky’s uncompromising stance, there is a risk that the US leader will walk out of the talks, which would reduce international interest in the Ukraine issue.
Russian political scientist Sergey Markov, commenting on Trump’s words, noted that it has thus become clear that a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia will include a land swap. He accused Zelensky of starting the special military operation, called him a war criminal, and described hiding behind the constitution as a situation that cannot logically be explained.
In the West, however, this statement was interpreted as a diplomatic victory for Russia and personally for Putin. An article published in the Washington Post noted that the upcoming negotiations could bring the two leaders closer and prompt the US president to make sharp statements.
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