According to reports, just two days prior to a high-stakes summit in Alaska with Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump reportedly terrorized the Russian president by warning of “very severe consequences” should Moscow decline to cease the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In a coordinated diplomatic push, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin for urgent virtual talks with Trump and European leaders; the discussions sought to underline the principle that any resolution must include Kyiv directly, a point also emphasized by the EU because of further issues created by the war in European security and energy stability.
Trump did say that the long-term strategy is to bring both Zelenskyy and Putin to the negotiating table under his leadership but confirmed that this will not be achieved in the Alaska meeting on August 15. Analysts have noted that the very fact that no leaders representing Ukraine or Europe will be present at the summit stokes fears that essential decisions might get made without their input.
This is the Third year of war, it has displaced more than 14 million Ukrainians, devastated industrial centres, and caused global grain prices to rise by 38% since 2022. Experts warn that in the absence of an integrated settlement mechanism, U.S.-Russia bilateral negotiations could well exacerbate volatility in Eastern Europe.
