Trump, Putin to meet in Alaska for Ukraine peace talks without Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been sidelined from peace talks between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday because the Russian leader extended the invitation to meet, according to the White House. 

“The president is agreeing to this meeting, at the request of President Putin,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. “And the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.” 

“I think the president of the United States getting in the room with the president of Russia ,sitting face-to-face rather than speaking over the telephone will give this president the best indication of how to end this war and where this is headed,” Leavitt said. 

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Meanwhile Zelenskyy has remained firm that any decisions to end the war made without Ukraine will prove futile. 

“Any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine — they are simultaneously decisions against peace,” Zelenskyy said in a Saturday statement. “These are dead decisions; they will never work. And what we all need is a real, living peace, one that people will respect.”

Other European allies have Ukraine’s back. A group of European leaders issued a statement Saturday claiming that the “path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

Trump told reporters Monday that he predicted he’d know within minutes whether Putin was serious about hashing out a deal or not. He also acknowledged that Russia and Ukraine would have to navigate some “land swapping” issues as part of an agreement. 

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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Aug. 11, 2025.  (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Trump also said he would be in contact with Zelenskyy and other European leaders following the meeting with Putin. 

“If it’s a fair deal, I will reveal it to the European Union leaders and the NATO leaders and also to President Zelenskyy,” Trump said. “I may say, ‘lots of luck, keep fighting,’ or I may say we can make a…