By Staff Reporter
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he reached “understandings” with former US President Donald Trump over the potential end of the Ukraine war during their meeting in Alaska last month, but he did not confirm whether he would agree to peace talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brokered by Trump.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin thanked the two leaders for their support and efforts to “facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.” China and India are Russia’s largest crude oil buyers, a move criticised by the West for bolstering Moscow’s war-affected economy.
“The understandings reached at my meeting with Trump in Alaska are, I hope, moving in this direction, opening the way to peace in Ukraine,” Putin said.
Despite his comments, Putin reiterated his view that the war was provoked by the West, claiming it stemmed from a 2014 coup in Ukraine and Western attempts to draw the country into Nato. He also defended Russia’s actions since seizing Crimea in 2014 and launching a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Following the Alaska meeting, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin had agreed to security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a potential peace deal, though Moscow has yet to confirm this. Trump has set deadlines for a response, most recently giving Putin “a couple of weeks” before the US considers further action.
Trump’s peace proposals include security guarantees for Ukraine, with Europe acting as the “first line of defence” and the US providing protection, short of deploying troops. However, he has insisted Ukraine would not join Nato under any agreement. Zelensky has reportedly asked for a formal framework for these guarantees to be set on paper this week.
Meanwhile, Russia has continued military operations. Last Thursday, Moscow launched 629 drones and missiles at Kyiv, killing 23 people in one of the war’s largest aerial attacks. France and Germany have pledged to pressure Russia into negotiations, while Zelensky has rejected proposals for a buffer zone and accused Moscow of delaying diplomacy.
“If Putin does not agree, it will show again President Putin has played President Trump,” French President Emmanuel Macron warned following the Alaska meeting.
The situation remains tense as deadlines for potential negotiations approach, with no agreement yet in sight and attacks continuing on the ground.