The big risk is that in his desperate attempts to reach a deal with Putin, Trump could agree to unfavourable Russian conditions and turn against Kiev and Zelensky again, observers say. International media comments.
Immediately before the meeting between Trump and Putin in Alaska, the US president and his vice president J.D. Vance spoke via video link with the leaders of Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Finland, Poland, the European Union and NATO. Ukrainian President Zelensky was also present in Berlin.
„Breath of air“ for Europe
The video conference, organised by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, gave Europeans a breath of air, the world media commented. Because during the talks, Trump and Vance clearly stated that they did not plan to "sell" Ukraine to Russia. On the contrary - immediately after the meeting with the allies, Trump threatened Russia with "severe consequences" if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire and give a "10 rating" to the meeting with his European partners.
All territorial issues must be discussed with Ukraine, and guarantees for the country's security are an indispensable element of any agreement - according to French President Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump has assured European leaders of this.
Trump initially expressed his readiness to include Zelensky in the next meeting with Putin. However, a little later he changed his position: "There may not be a second meeting," the American president said. “Because if I think it is not appropriate to have it, because I have not received the answers that we need to receive, then there will be no second meeting.“
The biggest danger
It is precisely this inconsistency that is the biggest threat to Europe and Ukraine at the moment. Although Friedrich Merz stressed that Trump understands and “largely shares“ the European views on the subject of Ukraine, and JD Vance, known as the biggest opponent of support for Kiev, was in unison with the European partners, there is no guarantee that this position will be maintained.
“There was a positive atmosphere“, sources tell “Politico“ about the virtual conference organized by Germany. “Trump, as always, talked a lot about what he was going to do, but in a way that no one could understand exactly what he was going to do.“
Vance met with representatives of the Ukrainian administration in recent days, and in his talks with European leaders he was “of the same opinion as everyone else“, recalled Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silinja. However, he did not miss the beginning of the
week in an interview with “Fox News“ to emphasize that “Americans are tired of sending their taxpayers' money to settle this conflict“.
Trump can quickly turn 180 degrees
Trump's key goal in Alaska is not to look like a “loser“, commented Jan Techau of the think tank “Eurasia Group“. And not to be played by Putin - something that even Zelensky warns about.
“He (Trump) cannot fully read Putin's actions. He understands that Putin has a different plan than the one (Trump) thought,“ Techau added to “Politico“. But the big risk remains - after the meeting with Putin, Trump may say that Ukraine is obliged to give up territories or that the Europeans should lift some of the sanctions. And if they refuse to do so, he may accuse them of sabotaging peace. “This would be very convenient for Trump - to claim that the real enemies of peace are others: the Ukrainians and the Europeans“, says Techau.
Despite the positive signals, this threat remains. What's more - before the video call with European leaders, Trump decided to quote Viktor Orban, considered the Kremlin's closest supporter. Orbán claimed that Russia is the best at winning wars, and Trump described it as an “interesting statement“.
Is a territory swap possible
ARD recalls that Russia currently controls one-fifth of Ukraine's territory and considers Crimea and the Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions to be part of its state. Although Lugansk is almost entirely under Russian control, Moscow has not yet completely conquered any of the four regions. Of the territory that Ukraine occupied in the Russian Kursk region in 2024, almost nothing remains under Kiev's control, although President Zelensky claims that the Ukrainian army's operations there continue. Therefore, it is not very clear what a “territory swap“, which Trump is talking about, could look like, ARD notes.
According to American media, Trump's envoy to Moscow, Steve Witkoff, Russia has demanded a complete Ukrainian withdrawal from Lugansk and Donetsk, the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, and a freeze on the fronts in Zaporizhia and Kherson. For the moment, the chances of Kiev and Zelensky agreeing to such a move seem slim.
„Trump could be trapped“
According to a number of American experts, Trump's meeting with Putin, scheduled for Friday, is a mistake. Russia's war against Ukraine has not achieved its goals for three and a half years, Russia's economy is floundering, and Trump has already dealt a blow to Moscow by sanctioning India with additional tariffs because it buys Russian oil. „Putin now needs time to change his positions in the conflict“, commented Jonathan Lemaire in „The Atlantic“. And what better way to do that than to meet Trump face-to-face?
“Putin has already won. He is the leader of an outlaw state and he will take a picture on American soil with the president of the United States“, commented John Bolton, one of Trump's former national security advisers. “Trump wants a deal. And if he can't get it now, he can walk away from it altogether.“
At the same time, Russia has given no indication that it plans to abandon its claims, which are unacceptable to Ukraine and Europe. In recent days, Trump has repeatedly talked about “territory swaps“, but it is not at all clear what Moscow has to offer. The big risk is that in his desperate attempts to reach a deal, Trump may agree to the disadvantageous Russian terms and turn against Kiev and Zelensky again.
Similar concerns are shared by politicians in the United States: “My biggest fear is that there will be a bad deal that Zelensky will reject, then he will become the bad guy, and Trump, again based on the classic combination of revenge and vanity, will turn against Ukraine“, commented Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.
“The least bad outcome would be if the two men exchanged views, but Trump remained neutral and no agreement was reached. That would be a good, even a small first step“, Richard Haas of the Council on Foreign Relations, who has served in three Republican administrations, told “The Atlantic“. “The fear is that the president wants a deal too badly and will succumb too easily to Moscow's influence.“