DONALD Trump and Vladimir Putin’s historic one-on-one meeting will be a “listening exercise”, the White House has said.
Friday’s summit comes as Volodymyr Zelensky revealed the Russians want Ukraine to withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region as part of a ceasefire deal.
Speaking at a news briefing in Kyiv, Zelensky said Russia’s position was conveyed to him by US officials ahead of Friday’s summit.
He reiterated that Ukraine would not withdraw from territories it controls because it was unconstitutional and would only serve as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, also hinted that the President might travel to Russia after he misspoke yesterday and said he was considering it.
Not ruling out a possible trip, she said: “Perhaps there are plans”.
This would mean giving up the remaining 30 per cent of the Donetsk region and would leave almost the entirety of the Donbas in Russia’s bloody hands.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin hit out at Britain, accusing it of trying to disrupt the peace talks after Sir Keir Starmer warned the Russian leader cannot be “trusted”.
The Russian embassy in London slammed No10 and said: “We note the ongoing attempts by London and some of its partners to disrupt a peace resolution of the conflict by eliminating its root causes.
“This is clearly demonstrated by the statements and activity developed by the British leadership in the run-up to the Russian-American summit in Alaska.”
