White House may invite Zelenskyy to Alaska - NBC

“It’s being discussed,” said one person familiar with the talks.

According to a senior US official and others familiar with the discussions, the visit has not yet been confirmed. It remains unclear whether Zelenskyy will ultimately come to the meetings.

But as the US official noted, it is absolutely possible.

“Everyone is very hopeful that would happen,” he said.

When asked whether the US had officially invited Zelenskyy to Alaska, the official responded:

“The President remains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders. Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin,” the senior official said.

Another source added that if Zelenskyy were to go to Alaska, it is unclear whether he would be in the same room with Putin.

What preceded this

Earlier this week, on August 6, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow for talks with the Kremlin in what was seen as a last-ditch effort to end the war in Ukraine. At that time, there was still a looming sanctions deadline.

Shortly after the meeting, information began to emerge that a meeting between Trump and Putin was planned for the following week. Furthermore, after that, media reports suggested the possibility of a trilateral meeting.

Last night, Donald Trump officially announced that he will meet with Putin on August 15 in Alaska. The war in Ukraine is expected to be one of the key topics of their discussions.

Also, the day before, he told journalists that there could be a territory exchange between Ukraine and Russia.

There were also reports that during the meeting with Witkoff, Putin agreed to a complete ceasefire if Ukraine withdrew its troops from the Donetsk region.

However, according to Bild, Witkoff misunderstood Putin because the discussion also involved the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, but the Trump special envoy mistakenly interpreted it as a withdrawal of Russian troops.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Putin may present an ultimatum during his meeting with Trump, demanding recognition of the occupied territories in exchange for withdrawing Russian troops from other areas.

On the morning of August 9, Zelenskyy recorded a video message stating that Ukraine will not give up any territory to Russia.

Yesterday in the United Kingdom, representatives from the UK, Europe, Ukraine, and the US met to coordinate positions ahead of the Trump-Putin summit.

Following this meeting, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s arguments are being heard and that the dangers are being taken into account. The president also stressed that Putin wants to repeat the Crimea scenario by trying to exchange a pause in the war for the retention of occupied territories. However, Zelenskyy added that this time, Russia will not succeed.