Prior to the August 15th summit in Alaska between Trump and Putin, Russian troops continued their campaign to fully control the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
How will the meeting between President Trump and Putin affect US-Russia relations?
Future meetings between President Trump and Vladimir Putin could affect future sanctions on Russia and US relations with Ukraine.
MOSCOW, August 12 (Reuters) – A small band of Russian soldiers thrust deep into eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, ahead of a summit between Russian soldiers Putin and Donald Trump.
In one of the largest invasions of this year to date, Russian forces have advanced near the coal mining town of Dubropyria, part of Putin’s campaign to fully control the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military sent reserve forces and said they were in difficult battles with small groups advancing Russian soldiers.
Trump has said that the peace deal “several exchanges to several exchanges of territory” and Russia and Ukraine have so far relied on the US as their main arms supplier.
Virtually all the territory in question is Ukrainians, President Voldymir Zelensky and his European allies.
Zelensky and most of his European counterparts have stated that lasting peace cannot be ensured without the Ukrainian voice in negotiations and that they must comply with international law and Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
They are scheduled to call Trump on August 13th to rock him before a summit in Alaska with Putin on August 15th, celebrating the US president’s peace efforts, if not all the ideas that have come to his mind to get there.
“What’s not true peace and imitation will not be maintained for a long time, and we will only encourage Russia to seize more territory,” Zelensky said in a statement on August 12 after a call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who hosted an earlier speech between Ukraine and Russian leaders.
Russia advances in eastern Ukraine
Ukraine faced a shortage of soldiers after Russia invaded more than three years ago, and eased its path to latest Russian progress. “This breakthrough is like a gift for Putin and Trump in negotiations,” former Kremlin adviser Sergei Markov suggests that it could increase pressure on Ukraine under any deal.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian forces said on August 11 that they had taken two villages in the eastern region of Smie.
Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, launched a new attack this year in Schmi after Putin demanded a “buffer zone” there.
Ukraine and its European allies fear that Trump, who wants to insist on building peace with the Russian government and sealing off new business deals, will reward Putin for the 11 years he spent in his efforts to seize Ukrainian territory, the last three of the Open Warfare.
Europeans connect Ukraine with their own safety
European leaders say that if Ukraine is guaranteed peace and security on the continent, and if they are prepared to contribute further, they must be able to protect themselves.
“Ukraine cannot lose this war, and no one has the right to put Ukraine on its territory or other concessions or make decisions that would prevent it from surrender,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tass said at a government meeting. “I hope President Trump will be convinced about his position in Europe.”
Zelenskyy says he and the European leaders “all support President Trump’s resolve.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, a major ally of European President Putin, is the only leader who will not take part in the EU’s unification statement, and he chuckled his counterparts.
“The fact that the EU was left on the sidelines is so sad enough,” he said. “The only thing that makes things worse is when you start providing instructions from the bench.”
Trump recently agreed to strengthen his stance on Russia, sending more US arms to Ukraine, and threatening large trade tariffs to Russian oil buyers with the now-errorized ultimatum. Still, the prospect of Trump hosting Putin on US soil for the first US-Russia summit since 2021 has revived fears that he may narrow our interests ahead of the security of European allies and the broader geopolitics.
