By Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland, Yuliia Dysa and Lili Bayer
WASHINGTON/KYIV/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Kyiv and Moscow will both have to cede land to end the war in Ukraine and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week will instantly show whether the Kremlin leader is willing to make a deal.
European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plan to speak with Trump this week ahead of his summit with Putin in Alaska on Friday, amid fears Washington may dictate unfavorable peace terms to Ukraine.
Trump has hardened his stance towards Moscow by agreeing to allow additional U.S. weapons to reach Ukraine and threatening tariffs against buyers of Russian oil but fears persisted in Europe that he might agree to a deal that forces big concessions from Kyiv.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that “transatlantic unity, support to Ukraine and pressure on Russia” were needed to end the war and “prevent future Russian aggression in Europe.”
Trump told a White House press conference of his talks with Putin, “This is really a feel-out meeting.” He said he would know “probably in the first two minutes” of his meeting with Putin whether progress was possible.
“I’m going to be telling him, ‘You’ve got to end this war,'” he said.
“I’m going to go and see the parameters now. I may leave and say, ‘Good luck.’ And that’ll be the end. I may say, ‘This, this is not going to be settled.'” Trump said a future meeting could include Zelenskiy and the U.S. goal is a speedy ceasefire in the bloody 3-1/2-year-old conflict. He plans to talk to European leaders soon after his talks with Putin.
Trump has in the past talked about land swaps but neither Russia nor Ukraine has been open to ceding land as part of a peace deal.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said: “There’ll be some land swapping going on.”
“I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody, to the good of Ukraine,” he said. He said Russia had occupied some “very prime territory” but “we’re going to try to get some of that territory back.”
Kallas said in a post on X that the EU would work to increase sanctions against Russia, military support for Ukraine and assistance for Ukraine’s budget needs and accession to the EU.
UKRAINE WARNS AGAINST CONCESSIONS TO RUSSIA
Zelenskiy warned on Monday that any concessions to Russia would not persuade it to stop fighting and more pressure needed to be exerted on the Kremlin. He urged countries to keep their sanctions against Russia in place until Ukraine receives security guarantees.
“Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore must not receive any rewards or benefits,” he wrote on X.
“Concessions do not persuade a killer.”
Ukraine has sought to push back Russian invaders ever since the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War Two began in February 2022. Putin launched the invasion to take over Ukraine and expand Russia’s sphere of influence.
Zelenskiy spoke to the leaders of India and Saudi Arabia on Monday, in an effort to mobilize support for Kyiv beyond Europe ahead of Trump’s meeting with Putin.
Putin has also made a flurry of calls in recent days, speaking to the leaders of China, India, Brazil and three ex-Soviet states to brief them on his contacts with the United States.
Germany will convene a virtual meeting of European leaders on Wednesday to discuss how to pressure Russia ahead of a European call with Trump. Zelenskiy and EU and NATO officials are expected to join the meeting.
Trump’s mention of exchanging land reiterated his comment last week that a possible deal would involve “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both sides.”
The Trump administration has not disclosed its proposed territorial exchanges or any mechanism to ensure that Putin complies with a ceasefire and does not try to overrun more of Ukraine.
Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired U.S. Army General Keith Kellogg, earlier this year proposed a “resiliency force” of European NATO troops to secure the frontlines, as well as creating an 18-mile-wide demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine. No U.S. troops would be involved.
Britain and France in July convened a “coalition of the willing” of more than 30 nations and agreed to pursue operational plans for a European air, sea and land “reassurance force” and to “regenerate” Ukraine’s military.
Kellogg also said that Ukraine would not be admitted to NATO, meeting one of Putin’s demands.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Trevor Hunnicutt, Jonathan Landay and David Brunnstrom in Washington, Lili Bayer in Brussels, Sarah Marsh in Belin and Yuliia Dysa and Dan Peleschuk in Kyiv; Writing by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman)
