Russia-Ukraine war: Trump says summit with Putin may fail

By Nkiruka Nnorom

US President Donald Trump has expressed pessimism over the outcome of his proposed summit with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, scheduled for today in Alaska, US.

Trump, who had promised to get some territories back for Ukraine during the meeting through land swap with Russia, predicted a 25 percent chance of failure.

He was quoted by CNN as previewing the summit as an effort to set the table for a second meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reach a deal to end the years long conflict.

Asked during an interview with Fox Radio’s Brian Kilmeade whether there was any scenario where the meeting would be viewed as a failure, Trump said, “Yeah, 25 percent.”

“This meeting sets up the second meeting. The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s going to be a meeting where they make a deal,” Trump said.

He suggested there would be “give and take” on boundaries and lands during a second meeting.

Tomorrow’s meeting, he said, is “like a chess game.”

“This meeting sets up the second meeting, but there is a 25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,” he reiterated.

Trump also expressed openness to hitting Russia with additional sanctions if the meeting doesn’t end well. “I would, yeah. … If it’s not solved,” he said, referring to the war in Ukraine.

He, however, said that he was certain Putin would make a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

“I believe now he’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal. He’s going to make a deal. I think he’s going to. And we’re going to find out. I’m going to know very quickly,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Thursday morning.

Alaska meeting a chance to reset US-Russia relations – Kremlin

Meanwhile, Kremlin’s top economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said that today’s summit in Alaska was a chance to reset US-Russia relations if the meeting goes well.

“I think dialogue is very important and I think it’s a very positive meeting for the world because during the Biden administration, no dialogue was happening, so I think it’s very important to hear the Russian position directly,” Dmitriev said today when asked what Russia was hoping to get out of the meeting.

Dmitriev, who is the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, has been a key player in Russia’s dialogue with the Trump administration. He will be part of the Kremlin’s delegation in Alaska, suggesting that potential economic dealmaking between Washington and Moscow will also be on the agenda.

“There are lots of misunderstandings, misinformation about the Russian position,” Dmitriev added. “It’s also a chance to sort of reset, if the meeting goes well, US-Russia relations.”

The post Russia-Ukraine war: Trump says summit with Putin may fail appeared first on Vanguard News.