Trump moves away from ceasefire, now wants Russia-Ukraine peace deal

In the wake of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump said an overall peace agreement — not the ceasefire that he has long championed — is the next step in ending the three-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.

In talks with European allies after Friday's summit in Alaska, Trump said Putin reiterated that he wants the key Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up the Donbas. But Putin appeared open to the possibility of halting the stalemate in two other regions, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, with a freeze along the front lines.

Control over Donbas

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously rejected giving up the territory in the Donbas.

The aftermath of the summit offered little clarity about the next steps, other than Trump's commitment for more meetings, including with Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday (August 18). It was unclear among those briefed on the exchanges whether Trump saw Putin's desire for the Donbas as acceptable, with Trump's blunt but elliptical way of speaking only adding to a sense of confusion.

Also read: India welcomes Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, hails 'progress'

The White House had yet to provide a public summary of the calls as Trump played golf on Saturday (August 16) at his Virginia club. The most transparent takeaway was Trump's abrupt reversal on a ceasefire, raising questions of how peace talks can proceed if attacks continue.

Trump’s reversal on ceasefire

Trump's abandoning a ceasefire as a requirement for further negotiations aligns him with a position held by Putin. The Russian leader has long said Moscow is not interested in a temporary truce and is seeking a long-term settlement that takes the Kremlin's interests into account.

After the calls with Zelenskyy and European leaders, Trump said on Saturday on social media that “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told ZDF television that Trump said “Russia seems to be prepared to conduct the negotiations based on the so-called line of contact and not the administrative boundaries.” It was unclear from the comments how issues pertaining to the Donbas had been resolved.

Zelenskyy has previously refused to withdraw from the remaining 30 per cent of the Donetsk region that Ukraine controls. He says that would be unconstitutional and the territory could be used as a staging ground for later Russian attacks.

Also read: Trump to meet Zelenskyy on Monday for peace deal talks

In a statement after the Trump call, major European leaders did not address whether a peace deal was preferable to a ceasefire, saying they “welcomed President Trump's efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia's war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace.”

Putin's view on summit with Trump

Putin on Saturday described his talks with Trump as “very frank.” “We, of course, respect the position of the American administration, which sees the need for a speedy end to military actions,” he said at the follow-up meeting at the Kremlin, a clip of which was posted to the Kremlin's Telegram channel. “We would like to move to resolving all issues by peaceful means.”

Trump's suggestion that a peace agreement should be reached before a ceasefire appears to indicate his thinking is “shifting towards Putin,” an approach that would allow Moscow to keep fighting while negotiating, said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.

Putin has “broken out of international isolation” and “wasn't in the least challenged” by Trump, who also ignored an arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court, said Laurie Bristow, who was British ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020. But the US isn't a member of the court and thus doesn't have an obligation to arrest him.

“Unless Mr. Putin is absolutely convinced that he cannot win militarily, the fighting is not going to stop,” Bristow said. “That's the big takeaway from the Anchorage summit.”

Also read: After Alaska meeting, Putin, Trump may meet in Moscow next

Zelenskyy gears up for White House meeting

Zelenskyy, who was not invited to Alaska for the summit, said he had a “long and substantive” conversation with Trump early on Saturday and that they would “discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war” on Monday.

It will be Zelenskyy's first visit to the United States since Trump berated him publicly for being “disrespectful” during an extraordinary Oval Office meeting in February.

Trump confirmed the White House meeting and said that “if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.” Zelenskyy reiterated the importance of involving European leaders, who also were not at the summit, “to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America.” “We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader did not elaborate, but he has previously said European partners put on hold a proposal to establish a foreign troop presence in Ukraine to deter Russian aggression because it lacked an American backstop.

In apparent effort to bolster Zelenskyy's hand before the White House meeting, France, the United Kingdom and Germany will co-host a video call on Sunday of “coalition of the willing” nations that could help monitor and uphold any deal to end fighting, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said.

First Lady’s letter to Putin

Meanwhile, US First Lady Melania Trump took the unique step of crafting a letter that calls for peace in Ukraine, having her husband, President Trump, hand-deliver it to Russian President Putin during their Friday meeting in Alaska.

The letter did not specifically name Ukraine, which Putin's forces invaded in 2022, but beseeched him to think of children and “an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology.” Nor did the American first lady discuss the fighting other than to say to Putin that he could “singlehandedly restore” the “melodic laughter” of children who have been caught in the conflict.

Watch: Trump-Putin Alaska meeting: Why it matters | Prof Swaran Singh explains “In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone — you serve humanity itself,” she wrote on White House stationery.

A copy of the letter was first obtained by Fox News Digital and later posted on social media by supporters of the US president, including Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The first lady said that Putin could help these children with the stroke of a pen.

Putin's invasion of Ukraine has resulted in Russia taking Ukrainian children out of their country so that they can be raised as Russian. The Associated Press documented the grabbing of Ukrainian children in 2022, after which the International Criminal Court said it had issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

(With inputs from agencies)