MOSCOW/LONDON/KYIV: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday (Aug 14) he thought Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on ending his war in Ukraine after the Russian president floated the prospect of a nuclear arms agreement on the eve of their summit in Alaska.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies have intensified their efforts this week to prevent any deal between the US and Russia emerging from Friday’s summit that leaves Ukraine vulnerable to future attack.
“I think he’s going to make a deal,” Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well, he would call Zelenskyy and European leaders afterwards, and that if it went badly, he would not.
The aim of Friday’s talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: “I don’t know that we’re going to get an immediate ceasefire.”
Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for a meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two.
In televised comments, Putin said the US was “making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.”
