Trump says land swaps key to ending Ukraine war

KABUL (Pajhwok): Ahead of his meeting with his Russian counterpart, US President Donald Trump says that Kyiv and Moscow will both need to cede land to end the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference at the White House on Monday, Trump said that talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week would quickly reveal whether his counterpart was willing to reach a deal, Reuters reported.

Trump and Putin are scheduled to hold talks in Alaska on Friday. Trump claimed he could tell within two minutes of meeting Putin whether progress was possible.

He described Friday’s meeting as a “feel-out” encounter aimed at urging Putin to end the conflict, suggesting he viewed the summit as an initial step.

“So I’m going in to speak to Vladimir Putin, and I’m going to be telling him, ‘You’ve got to end this war. You’ve got to end it’,” Trump told reporters.

“There’ll be some land swapping going on,” he added.

Trump has toughened his stance towards Moscow by approving the delivery of additional American weapons to Ukraine and threatening tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.

European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plan to speak with Trump ahead of his summit with Putin in Alaska on Friday, amid concerns that Washington may impose unfavourable peace terms on Ukraine.

kk/sa