Territory swap could be part of Russia-Ukraine peace deal: Trump
On the eve of Vladimir Putin’s first visit to the US in more than a decade, Donald Trump has floated an ambitious plan to bring an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Donald Trump says a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine could include a “swapping of territories” as he prepares to meet with Vladimir Putin in Alaska to discuss an end to the war.
The two leaders will come face-to-face on Friday in what will be the Russian leader’s first trip to the United States in more than a decade.
Details of the meeting came just hours before Mr Trump’s deadline calling for Moscow to commit to a ceasefire or face crippling economic sanctions.
Mr Trump has vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict within hours of his return to the Oval Office but repeated attempts to halt the fighting have been unsuccessful.
Mr Putin has reportedly proposed conditions for a ceasefire that demand major concessions from Kyiv, including ceding territory in Eastern Ukraine.
Asked if Ukraine would have to yield land to reach a deal, Mr Trump said that was on the table.
“You’re looking at territory that’s been fought over for three and a half years … a lot of Russians have died, a lot of Ukrainians have died,” he said.
“So we’re looking at that, but we’re actually looking to get some back and some swapping, complicated, it’s actually nothing easy, it’s very complicated.
“But we’re going to get some back. We’re going to some switched. There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both…”.
Ukraine is unlikely to agree to cede any ground to its enemy. By law, Mr Zelensky is barred from relinquishing any land to Russia.
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PUTIN SEEKS TO SHORE UP ALLIES AHEAD OF TRUMP MEETING
Mr Putin has held consultations with the leaders of China and India, seeking support from his key allies ahead of the summit with Mr Trump.
The calls came hours before a deadline from the US president on Moscow to halt its Ukraine offensive or face crippling new economic sanctions, expected to target Russia’s key trading partners.
Mr Trump has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine after boasting he could end the conflict in 24 hours – but his efforts so far have failed to yield a breakthrough.
He also wants countries such as China and India to cut their purchases of Moscow’s oil and gas, a key source of revenue that Kyiv and the West say funds its army.
Mr Trump earlier this week hiked tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil, which have surged since February 2022 when Moscow launched its campaign.
The Kremlin said that Putin had updated Chinese President Xi Jinping on “the main results of his conversation” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff who visited Moscow earlier this week.
Xi expressed support for a “long-term” solution to the conflict, the Kremlin said.
China’s Xinhua state news agency quoted Xi as having told Mr Putin: “China is glad to see Russia and the United States maintain contact, improve their relations, and promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.” Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, economic and military ties since Russia’s offensive.
China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in the conflict, but never denounced the offensive or called for Russia to withdraw.
Mr Putin also spoke by phone to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after both countries condemned the new US tariffs over New Delhi’s oil purchases.
“Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine,” Mr Modi posted on social media.
Neither side elaborated on what had been discussed.
Mr Trump’s deadline for Russia to strike a peace deal or face new sanctions – expected to target its trading partners – was set to pass later on Friday.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office if that deadline still held despite the upcoming summit, Mr Trump did not give a clear answer.
“It’s going to be up to (Putin),” Mr Trump said. “We’re going to see what he has to say.”
‘STOP THE KILLING’: TRUMP TO MEET WITH PUTIN WITHOUT PRECONDITION
Donald Trump said he would meet with Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader didn’t sit down beforehand with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The remark contradicted earlier reports in US media which, citing unnamed White House officials, said a Putin-Zelensky meeting was a prerequisite for Mr Trump’s own summit with his Russian counterpart.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office if Mr Putin was required to meet Mr Zelensky first, President Trump said simply: “No, he doesn’t, no.”
“They would like to meet with me, and I’ll do whatever I can to stop the killing,” he added.
A day earlier, Mr Trump said that a face-to-face meeting with Mr Putin could occur “very soon,” after his envoy Steve Witkoff met the Russian leader in Moscow.
Mr Trump has been trying since taking office in January to end Russia’s military assault on Ukraine, after boasting on the campaign trail that he would end the conflict within 24 hours.
He has recently increased pressure on Russia, issuing a Friday deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire deal or face increased penalties.
Asked if the deadline still stood after the talks with Mr Witkoff, Mr Trump did not answer directly.
“It’s going to be up to (Putin),” President Trump said.
“We’re going to see what he has to say.”
“Very disappointed,” he added.
Earlier, the Kremlin claimed that Moscow and Washington agreed “in principle” to hold a one-on-one meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Trump.
“An agreement was agreed in principle to hold a bilateral summit meeting in the coming days, that is, a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump,” Mr Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said, claiming it was made “at the suggestion of the American side.”
SIGNIFICANCE OF A TRILATERAL MEETING
A trilateral meeting would represent a big step toward an end to the war in Ukraine.
No other world leader — including former President Joe Biden — have been able to get the two belligerents in the same room since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
However, the Kremlin resisted the notion of a Trump meeting including Zelensky.
“First of all, we propose to focus on the preparation of a bilateral meeting with Trump and we consider the main thing that this meeting should be successful and effective,” Ushakov said.
Notably, the Russian stock market rose roughly 4.5 per cent after the Kremlin claimed the meeting would happen.
Meanwhile, The New York Times newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported a meeting with Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky could take place as early as next week.
The possibility was discussed in a call between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky that, according to a senior Ukrainian source, also included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Germany and Finland.
“There’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon,” Mr Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House, when asked when he would meet the Ukrainian and Russian leaders.
He gave no indication where the meeting with Mr Putin might take place. It would be the first US-Russia leadership summit since former president Joe Biden met with his counterpart in Geneva in June 2021.
“It seems that Russia is now more inclined to agree to a ceasefire; the pressure on them is working. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us or the United States in the details,” Mr Zelensky said.
It came after Washington’s envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow for talks with Mr Putin earlier in the day.
“The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
RUSSIA CONSIDERS AIR TRUCE
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is reportedly mulling an air truce with Ukraine to halt its record-breaking drone and missile bombardments as a key concession to President Trump ahead of his Friday deadline to make peace.
The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected attempts for a full-fledged ceasefire with Ukraine, but is open to an air truce if Kyiv agrees to it as well, Bloomberg reported, citing a source familiar with the potential agreement.
The possible truce was floated as President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Mr Putin in Moscow Wednesday for high-stakes talks to end the bloodshed.
“A quite useful and constructive conversation took place,” Mr Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists, including AFP, after the three hour meeting.
Mr Putin and Mr Witkoff exchanged “signals” on their positions, Ushakov said, without elaborating.
The Kremlin released video of Mr Putin shaking hands with Mr Witkoff at the start of the meeting.
The pair met for around three hours, with Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, who was present in the meeting, describing the conversation as “useful and constructive.”
President Trump said the meeting between Mr Witkoff and the Russian leader had been “highly productive”.
“Great progress was made,” Mr Trump said.
“Afterwards, I updated some of our European allies.
“Everyone agrees this war must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come.”
It comes as Ukrainian emergency services reported on Wednesday that at least two people were killed and 12 others wounded in Russian shelling of a holiday camp in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.
When reporters asked Mr Trump what Mr Witkoff’s message would be to Moscow, Mr Trump replied: “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.”
TIKTOKERS ARRESTED AFTER POSING IN WAR ZONE
Two TikTok influencers have been arrested after posing in front of a burning Russian oil depot after a Ukrainian strike.
Dasha Vladimirovna, 21, and Karina Evgenyevna, 19, appear in front of the Rosneft-Kubannefte product oil depot in the resort city of Sochi as it lit up the sky.
The Ukraine attack ignited a large fire and prompted temporary flight restrictions at the nearby Sochi International Airport.
The TikTokers are calm in the video despite the unfolding disaster in the background.
They even rap to the track Crimson Dawn by famous Russian rapper Endspill.
A male also appears in the video – but it is unclear if he was also arrested.
An image shared online purports to show the trio in custody.
Before they were identified, police issued a public appeal for information to locate the females.
“During internet monitoring, a publication was found of two girls filming a video against the backdrop of a fire in Sochi,” the police statement said.
“The police have initiated an investigation, measures are being taken to identify the girls, and their actions will be legally assessed.”
– with AFP
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Originally published as Territory swap could be part of Russia-Ukraine peace deal: Trump