Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are meeting far from Europe, and European leaders haven’t been invited.
While Ukraine will likely come up during their summit in Anchorage, it may not even be the main topic. Instead, Trump and Putin could focus on issues where they might find common ground—like arms control and nuclear safety. One possible step forward would be getting Russia back into the New START nuclear arms treaty, which it pulled out of after invading Ukraine. Another area of discussion could be splitting up the mineral resources in the Arctic.
Trump has worked to lower expectations about a Ukraine ceasefire.
He’s called the Anchorage summit a “feel-out meeting” to see what Putin is thinking. If Trump decides that Putin is offering what he sees as a “fair deal,” he said he’ll share it with EU leaders, NATO, and President Zelensky—though notably, Zelensky was mentioned last on that list. That detail hasn’t gone unnoticed.
It's no surprise that President Zelensky and European leaders are both frustrated and insulted by Trump’s dismissive attitude. On Tuesday, every European leader—except Hungary’s Viktor Orban—signed a statement saying that peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without involving Ukraine itself. Zelensky also made it clear that he refuses to give up any land just to end the war.
That creates a major problem for the Anchorage talks, because giving up land is exactly what Trump seems to be suggesting.
He’s mentioned this idea twice, saying territory would be exchanged as part of any future peace agreement. “There will be some changes in land,” he told reporters. Trump even described the areas Russia has taken as “oceanfront property”—valuable real estate, in his words.
That comment confused many—anyone who’s looked at a map of Ukraine’s frontlines knows it doesn’t make much sense.
Russia currently controls most of southern Ukraine’s coastline, all the way to the Dnipro River at Kherson.This covers most of Kherson, about half of Zaporizhzhia, nearly three-quarters of Donetsk, and almost all of Luhansk. In September 2022, Putin officially added those four regions to Russia’s constitution.
The Kremlin now demands that Ukraine hand over the rest of those territories it hasn’t yet lost, as the price for peace.
That idea is completely unrealistic—even hardcore Russian nationalists know Ukraine would never willingly give up that much land and population. The only somewhat realistic path to a ceasefire would be dividing Ukraine based on who controls what at the moment the fighting stops. Of course, Russia would try to present that as a generous compromise.
There’s also a big question around how any agreement would be recognized.
Russia wants Ukraine to officially accept its new borders, but Zelensky refuses. Still, many long-term conflicts—like Korea or Cyprus—have survived with unofficial recognition and diplomatic workarounds. This issue of legal versus informal recognition could be a major obstacle in future peace talks.
So what does Trump actually mean by “land swaps”?
Maybe he’s talking about small bits of land Russia has taken in Kharkiv or Sumy, which could be traded for similar areas in Donetsk or Luhansk. But those are tiny changes—nothing close to the “prime real estate” Trump mentioned.
And what does Zelensky really mean when he says he won’t “trade land for peace”?
In the West, people often think he’s demanding to take back all of Ukraine’s lost land, but that’s not what he means. He’s saying he won’t give up even more land just to stop the war. He’s also refusing to legally recognize Russia’s occupation. Still, Ukrainian officials know that the areas currently under Russian control are, for now, out of reach.
On Tuesday, Zelensky said Ukraine’s intelligence believes Russia is getting ready for a new major attack in the Donbas region.
“Putin is definitely not preparing for peace,” Zelensky tweeted. Russian forces have been making gains—up to 9 square kilometers a day—near the strategic town of Pokrovsk. Zelensky warned that Putin wants to present a meeting with the U.S. as a big win, and then carry on with business as usual.
As missiles continue to hit Ukrainian cities and troops push forward, it’s hard to see Putin as a serious peacemaker.
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