Putin is ‘bluffing’, Zelensky cautions Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he has cautioned US President Donald Trump before his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Putin is “bluffing” about wanting to end the conflict, according to Arab News via Reuters on August 13th.

The Trump-Putin meeting is set for August 15th in Alaska and has sparked concern in Ukraine and among its allies that the two leaders could attempt to dictate peace terms in the war, now in its third year.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had alerted “the US president and our European partners that Putin is bluffing.”

“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine,” Zelensky continued.

Trump has asserted that he will know “within the first two minutes” if a resolution to the conflict is possible.

The talks could involve land swaps, Trump has said, in what would be the most significant territorial negotiations since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. “There’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” Trump told reporters recently, hinting that a ceasefire may be imminent.

Zelensky has previously stated that he strongly opposes any loss of Ukrainian land, adding that doing so would violate the nation’s constitution. “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupiers,” he said on August 9th, adding that any deals reached without Kyiv’s involvement would be “stillborn” and unworkable.

The Ukrainian president stressed that the primary goal of the Alaska talks should be an immediate cessation of hostilities, while negotiations about territory should only occur in a meeting involving all three leaders.

“Regarding our principles and territorial integrity, in the end this is all decided at the level of leaders,” he explained, “Without Ukraine, it is impossible to decide this. And, by the way, everyone also supports this.”

Zelensky also noted that Trump had promised to update him after his meeting with Putin.

Arab News via Reuters, Maghrebi.org