EDITOR'S CORNER: A Russia-USA Summit Without Ukraine?

Last week brought a startling announcement: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet in Alaska on August 15th to discuss “peace” in Ukraine. Notably absent from the table will be Volodymyr Zelenskyy or any European leaders. It will be just Putin and Trump—alone—attempting to “resolve” a war in which only one of them is a direct party.

Reports have already surfaced of what the Kremlin expects in exchange for a ceasefire. As usual, the demands are outrageous. And yet, it appears Trump is once again playing directly into Putin’s hands.

In this blog post, I want to examine the details of this proposed deal—and how Ukraine views it.

Let me be clear: I find it appalling that Trump believes he has the authority to negotiate on Ukraine’s behalf without Ukraine’s consent. He does not have the right to hand over Ukrainian territory, in defiance of both the Ukrainian constitution and the will of the Ukrainian people.

 

PURPORTED RUSSIAN CEASEFIRE DEMANDS

Putin has once again reiterated his proposal of trading land for peace. This time, he suggested he would “settle” for control of the Donbas region and the Crimean Peninsula in exchange for a ceasefire. However, some speculate that Witkoff may have misunderstood him—and that Putin still intends to claim Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, in addition to Donbas and Luhansk. He also repeated demands that Ukraine remain neutral, with no NATO membership and no Western troops stationed on Ukrainian soil. While similar to previous ultimatums, these terms appear to call for slightly less territory.

Trump initially declared he would not meet with Putin unless he also met with Zelenskyy, but that condition has now been dropped. He appears instead to be aiming for a ceasefire agreement with Putin first, which he would then present to Zelenskyy and European leaders.

Unsurprisingly, both Europe and Ukraine baulked at the proposal. 

WHAT DOES ZELENSKYY THINK?

Zelenskyy is far from pleased. He welcomes any discussions of a ceasefire—Ukraine is under immense strain from the near-nightly barrage of hundreds of Russian drones targeting major cities—the civilian death toll continues to rise sharply. 

Still, Ukrainians are not prepared to hand over territory to Putin on a silver platter, especially land that Russia does not even currently occupy or control. Such a concession would hand Moscow a political and military victory without requiring it to make any real sacrifices. And does it even guarantee peace? Many fear it could simply serve as a covert pause for Russia to rest its forces, rearm, and strike again.

For Kyiv, the risk is clear: a premature deal could undermine both Ukraine’s sovereignty and its security, locking in territorial losses while leaving the door open for renewed aggression. European leaders share this concern, warning that any agreement must come with strong safeguards—or it could amount to little more than a tactical timeout for the Kremlin.

THE SITUATION OF THE WAR RIGHT NOW

In previous updates, we noted that 2025 has brought no decisive breakthrough for either side. For Russia, the war has been costly: casualty rates remain extremely high, and recruiting new soldiers is both difficult and expensive, with Moscow offering increasingly large incentives to sign contracts. Despite launching a summer offensive, Russia’s territorial gains have been limited compared to the resources spent, and it currently controls roughly 20% of Ukraine’s territory—holding all of Luhansk, most of Donetsk, and significant portions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, as well as small areas in Kharkiv and northern Sumy.

For Ukraine, the picture is equally challenging. Russian forces continue to pound major cities like Kyiv and Odesa with near-nightly drone and missile attacks, often targeting civilian infrastructure. This sustained bombardment has driven up the civilian death toll and strained Ukraine’s air defenses. Recruitment is also a pressing problem: after more than three years of war, public exhaustion is high, and finding enough new soldiers to sustain defensive lines is increasingly difficult. Kyiv leans heavily on drone strike capabilities and layered defensive tactics to hold ground and disrupt Russian supply lines, but the pressure on manpower and resources is mounting.

 MY OPINION

I may sound like a broken record, but it bears repeating until it’s fully understood: if Russia achieves victory in Ukraine, it will not stop there. Putin is an unabashed imperialist with a clear ambition to re-create the sphere of influence once held by the Soviet Union. Ukraine is merely the first step in that vision. The choice before us is stark—either allow him to advance to the next stage or stop him decisively in his tracks.

History offers no shortage of warnings. Each time an aggressor has been allowed to seize territory unchallenged, it has emboldened them to push further, convinced the world will accept the new status quo. If Ukraine falls, the Baltics, Poland, and other vulnerable nations on NATO’s eastern flank could find themselves next in line, testing the alliance’s unity and the stability of Europe itself.

"I don’t believe it!" you might say. You don’t have to—history speaks for itself. Since the rise of Muscovy and the early Tsardom, Russia’s pattern has been consistent: every conquest is followed by the next. Putin is no different. He cannot afford to stop; if he does, his grip on the Kremlin becomes a ticking time bomb, counting down to the loss of his power—and likely his life. He remains a man obsessed with glory, fixated on becoming the next great Russian tsar, the leader who lifts Russia from its knees and restores it as a dominant force in the world.

I also want to stress that I don’t believe for a moment that Putin’s territorial ambitions have diminished. At the very least, he wants that land bridge to Crimea. Why on earth would he suddenly settle for the same territory Russia held in 2022? The notion that Putin would agree to a ceasefire in exchange for just Donbas and Crimea, as Witkoff seems to think, is absurd. 

Now, let’s talk about Trump. I didn’t include a dedicated section for America because this will be brief. Trump views Putin as an equal—someone he admires and aspires to emulate. A strongman who refuses to be bullied, a leader commanding respect. What seems to escape him—or what he simply doesn’t care about—is that Putin is a wanted war criminal and an outright dictator.

So why is Trump so deeply involved? The answer is simple. He craves the glory that would come from ending the war in Ukraine and hopes to secure a Nobel Peace Prize. Beyond that, he sees dollar signs every time he looks east toward Russia. The sooner trade relations resume, the better it is for him—primarily because the money would personally benefit him and his family.

CONCLUSION

I don’t believe this summit will lead to any meaningful progress. Expect the news cycle to be flooded with sensational headlines multiple times a day until Friday—but substance will likely be scarce. What truly matters is that we continue to stand firmly with Ukraine, supporting their right to a fair and lasting peace—one that respects their sovereignty and security.

These so-called negotiations between the "two great nations" should not be allowed to sideline the very country at the center of the conflict. For any peace talks to be legitimate, they must include all key stakeholders: Ukraine and European partners, not just Putin and Trump.

My greatest fear is that if this summit falls apart, Trump will exploit the fallout to pressure Europe, potentially abandoning Ukraine and the continent when they need support most. The stakes couldn’t be higher, and we must demand accountability, inclusivity, and genuine commitment to peace—not empty posturing and shortcuts.