Ukraine joins Alaska talks

Ukraine's president rejects any peace deal that excludes Kyiv as Trump and Putin plan a summit in Alaska

Zelenskyy warns Trump Putin summit will achieve nothing and Ukraine will not yield land

Zelenskyy rejected the planned Alaska summit between Trump and Putin, warning that any peace deal without Ukraine would be a dead solution. In a Telegram post, he said Kyiv's territorial integrity must be non negotiable and that Ukraine will not give up land to the occupier.

The meeting is set for Friday, August 15, and U.S. officials described it as potentially a breakthrough. The White House has signaled openness to a trilateral format that could include Ukraine, while Trump suggested he may start by meeting Putin alone. Western officials privately weigh how such talks could affect Ukraine's leverage, even as Ukrainian forces continue operations on several fronts and drones and air defenses shape the battlefield context.

The insistence on Ukraine's voice at the table signals Kyiv's political leverage in any settlement and tests how far Western allies will go to protect Kyiv's veto. A U.S.-Russian Alaska summit without Kyiv risks producing a framework that serves the interests of the two powers more than those on the ground. The episode highlights a wider tension in modern diplomacy: can major power talks advance peace while keeping a front-line ally satisfied?

If negotiations proceed, the risk is not only a possible stalled peace but a broader drift from allied consensus. The event could strain European unity and complicate future aid and security commitments if Kyiv feels its red lines are ignored or ignored too long. In short, diplomacy here is a test of trust as much as a test of strategy.

Highlights

The coming days will reveal whether diplomacy can outpace suspicion