Trump proposes Aug. 22 trilateral meeting with Russia, Ukraine

TASS, Philippine News Agency

FILE: President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley; The White House/Facebook)

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump expects to hold a trilateral summit meeting with Russia and Ukraine as early as August 22, US-based Axios web portal reported citing its sources.

According to the web portal, during a telephone call with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15, Trump announced that “he wants to organize a trilateral summit with Putin and Zelensky as early as next Friday [August 22].”

The New York Times reported earlier, citing sources, that following his meeting with Putin, the US leader proposed negotiating a peace deal under which Ukraine would give up the rest of the Donbass region to Russia, including areas not liberated by Russian troops, in a phone call with European leaders.

A ceasefire in the rest of Ukraine at present-day battlefronts and security guarantees, both for Kiev and Europe, would be offered in return.

On August 15, Putin and Trump met at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Alaska. Their talks lasted approximately three hours, including a one-on-one conversation in the American leader’s limousine en route to the main negotiation venue, as well as a subsequent small-group discussion involving three participants on either side.

The Russian delegation included Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the American side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff.

In a statement to the media following the talks, Putin said they mostly focused on resolving the Ukraine conflict.

Trump described his summit with Putin as “very productive.”

Later, he called Zelensky, EU leaders, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

After the summit and the phone calls, Trump stated that Ukraine and Russia should go straight to agreeing on a final peace deal as he dropped his demand for a ceasefire.

Trump and Zelensky are due to have a meeting in the White House on August 18. The US leader said that if talks with Zelensky are a success, another meeting with Putin will be scheduled. (TASS)