The upcoming Trump-Putin summit spells the end of the “international isolation” of Russia, the Ukrainian leader has claimed
The upcoming meeting between the US and Russian presidents has become a “personal victory” for Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has said.
US President Donald Trump is expected to host his Russian counterpart for talks in Alaska on Friday. Zelensky touched upon the upcoming summit during a media op on Tuesday, suggesting the event marks the end of the “international isolation” Russia had purportedly faced over the Ukraine conflict.
“Putin will meet Trump on US soil, and I consider this his personal victory,” Zelensky stated, adding that Moscow has also managed to “get sanctions delayed,” apparently referring to the 10-day ultimatum issued by Trump to Russia in late July.
The US president announced the “highly anticipated meeting” with Putin last week, revealing it will take place in Alaska. While the exact venue to host the talk has not been named yet, the latest media reports suggested the summit will likely take place at the Elmendorf–Richardson military base.
Both Washington and Moscow have been cautious about the expectations for the upcoming meeting, signaling the summit was likely to become the first top-level event in a string of talks rather than result in an immediate breakthrough. The talks are expected to revolve around the Ukraine conflict, as well as a broader range of bilateral Russia-US issues.
“We hope that the forthcoming high-level meeting will give an impulse to the normalization of bilateral relations, which will allow us to move forward on several issues,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said.
The White House has also appeared to downplay expectations for the meeting, signaling it was unlikely to yield an immediate result with regard to the Ukraine conflict or other issues.
“This is a listening exercise for the [US] president. Look, only one party that’s involved in this war is going to be present, and so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has stated.