FLASH NEWS
Five things you need to know before the Trump-Putin summit
2025-08-15 15:45:15 / BOTA
These are the main things you need to know before US President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin face to face.
Many analysts see the meeting with Trump as a victory for Putin, as the Russian leader attempts to end international isolation.
"No Western leader has met with Putin since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine. Now he is holding a summit with the American president, without any prior concessions ," said Jana Kobzova, who served as a foreign policy advisor to former Slovak President Zuzana Caputova.
Beyond that, Putin's goal remains unchanged since the beginning of the war.
" The Kremlin believes it has the upper hand on the battlefield, so if it cannot make diplomatic concessions, it just continues its mission on the ground ," Kobzova said.
For this reason, Putin is expected to resist the idea of accepting a ceasefire.
Trump has said he wants to use this summit to pave the way for another meeting that would also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"I think it's going to be a good meeting, but even more important is the second meeting that we're going to have. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, me, and maybe we'll invite the European leaders, maybe not ," Trump said on August 14.
Trump has made it clear that he wants to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible as a first step towards a final solution. However, some analysts have said that Putin will muddy the waters by making other proposals.
Jim O'Brien, the official who served as assistant secretary of state for European affairs in the Joe Biden administration, said that there is a high possibility that the financial aspect will dominate Putin's proposals, as an opportunity to avoid the concrete details of any ceasefire.
"There could be bilateral agreements, especially for trade agreements that benefit American businesses," he said.
The Ukrainian president wants a seat at the table. Zelensky has been excluded from the talks and has warned that decisions made in his absence will be meaningless.
The issue of territorial concessions is something Zelensky has repeatedly rejected. Trump said before the summit that he would not force Kiev to give up land, but his suggestion that Putin and Zelensky "could split things up" has raised alarm in Kiev.
Such demands are unacceptable not only for Zelensky, but also for all Ukrainians.
He hopes that Trump and Putin will not agree on something that is unacceptable to him, because he does not want to appear in the eyes of the White House as the man who is obstructing the peace process.
How is the situation on the battlefield?
Russia controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, which amounts to approximately 114,500 square kilometers.
The war front line is about 1,000 kilometers long and runs through the regions of Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.
Both sides continue to face heavy losses, but earlier this month Russia began to score victories in eastern Ukraine, advancing 10 kilometers as the army concentrated around the regions of Toretsk and Pokrovsk.
Moscow continues to push forward a strategy that military analysts have seen as trading many casualties in war in exchange for a small piece of land.
Trump has proposed a second trilateral meeting within a few days, which could again be held in Alaska.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke more on August 14 about the conditions that must be met to achieve lasting peace.
"I believe we are all aware that there will be discussions about security guarantees. There should also be discussions about territorial disputes and claims that both sides are fighting over," Rubio said.
Russia will continue to insist on discussing what it considers the "root" of the conflict - the Kremlin's code through which it demands that Ukraine give up its ambitions for NATO membership, as well as take steps to disarm the Ukrainian army.
Each side has its red lines, so the path to achieving peace is not easy./ REL
Happening now...
America may withdraw from Europe, but not from SPAK
Nga Gentian Gaba
ideas
top
Alfa recipes
TRENDING 
services
- POLICE129
- STREET POLICE126
- AMBULANCE112
- FIREFIGHTER128