WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine during their high-stakes summit in Alaska, a top White House envoy said Sunday, adding that he was hopeful for a “productive meeting” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders the next day.
Speaking on CNN, Steve Witkoff added that Russia had agreed to unspecified concessions on five Ukrainian regions central to the fighting, particularly the eastern Donetsk province.
“We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as game-changing,” Witkoff said.
He added: “The Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions. There is an important discussion with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there. And that discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday.”
Trump says Ukraine needs to make a deal after summit with Putin ends without ceasefire
Trump on Monday will be hosting Zelensky and a number of European leaders to discuss ways to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion of its neighbor.
The preparations come after Trump dropped his push for a ceasefire following the Alaska summit with Putin, something that had been one of Washington’s core demands before the summit, to which Ukraine and its European allies were not invited.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC Sunday that a ceasefire “is not off the table,” but “what we ultimately are aiming for is an end to this war.”
In a brief post on his Truth Social platform, Trump hailed “BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA,” without elaborating.
The leaders heading to Washington on Monday to try and bend Trump’s ear on the matter include British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, among others.
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