Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held talks in Alaska on Friday (August 15). The US president's hopes of reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine remain uncertain, but Putin's latest offer of a possible nuclear deal could help both sides save face.

The meeting of the Russian and US leaders at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska, their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House, comes amid concerns in Ukraine and Europe that Trump may betray Kyiv.

Trump, who once said he would end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours, said on Thursday that the three-and-a-half-year conflict has proven more difficult to resolve than he imagined.

He said that if his talks with Putin go well, the subsequent trilateral summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy – who was not invited to Friday's meeting – would be more important than his meeting with Putin. Trump is pushing for a ceasefire to bolster his credibility as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize, something he has made clear is important to him.

Ukraine and its European allies were encouraged by their conference call on Wednesday. In the call, they stated that Trump agreed that Ukraine should be involved in any negotiations on territorial transfers. Zelenskiy said Trump also supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement, although the US president did not publicly mention this.

Wednesday's call eased their concerns that a Trump-Putin deal would pressure Ukraine into making territorial and other concessions. Putin, whose war economy is showing signs of strain, needs Trump to help Russia escape the shackles of increasingly stringent Western sanctions, or at least not to impose further sanctions on Moscow, something Trump has threatened.

The day before the summit, the Kremlin leader raised the prospect of something else he knows Trump wants – a new nuclear arms control treaty to replace the current one, which expires in February of next year. (alg)

Source: Reuters