Key points
- President Trump is open to holding trilateral summit: White House official
- Says White House currently planning bilateral meeting
- Trump and Putin are due to meet on August 15 in Alaska
ISLAMABAD: The US ambassador to NATO said on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could attend this week’s US-Russia summit in Alaska, as European leaders push for Kyiv to be part of the negotiations.
Ambassador Matthew Whitaker was asked on CNN whether Zelensky might join US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday.
“Yes, I certainly think it’s possible,” he said. “Certainly, there can’t be a deal that everybody that’s involved in it doesn’t agree to. And, I mean, obviously, it’s a high priority to get this war to end.”
President Trump is open to holding a trilateral summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Reuters reported, quoting a White House official earlier.
However, the White House is currently planning a bilateral meeting with Putin at his request, the official reportedly said.
Territorial concessions
The planned summit without Zelensky has raised concerns that a deal would require Kyiv to cede swaths of territory, which the European Union has rejected.
In a flurry of diplomacy, Zelensky held calls with 13 counterparts over three days including Kyiv’s main backers Germany, Britain and France.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Sunday he hoped and assumed that Zelensky would attend the summit.
Whitaker said the decision would ultimately be Trump’s to make.
“No decision made”
“If he thinks that that is the best scenario to invite Zelensky, then he will do that,” he said, adding that “no decision has been made to this point.”
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes, according to AFP.
