US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox News that during his talks Friday with Vladimir Putin they reached a fundamental understanding: the war in Ukraine should end with a “territory swap” and certain security guarantees from the United States.
The conversation with host Sean Hannity took place immediately after the summit in a closed meeting room where Trump had just met with Putin. Avoiding questions from independent journalists, the American president chose a friendly media platform instead.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
Trump repeatedly emphasized that the decisive word now rests with Ukraine, which, he said, must agree to what has already been discussed with the Kremlin.
When Fox News host Sean Hannity asked about possible territorial concessions granting Russia land it had never controlled before, along with potential US security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump confirmed these had been part of his talks with Putin.
“Well, I think those are points that we negotiated, and those are points that we largely have agreed on,” he said. “Actually, I think we agree on a lot. I can tell you, the meeting was a warm meeting.”
He called Putin a “strong guy” and “tough as hell,” but said the meeting was positive, according to CNN.
“I think we’re pretty close to the end. And look, Ukraine has to agree to it,” he said.
Trump’s advice to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “Gotta make a deal.”
Former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov Dies at 73
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly declared his intention to push for a “territory swap” between Ukraine and Russia.
Meanwhile, Axios, citing sources familiar with the talks, reported that Trump views such a swap as an essential element of any deal to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Speaking during the press conference from Alaska, a “logical” location for the talks given the shared history between the two countries, Putin thanked Trump for proposing the summit.
He said the long-overdue personal meeting was the result of “serious and painstaking work” by officials from both sides, including multiple conversations with Trump and visits to Russia by his special envoy Steve Witkoff. Witkoff, Trump’s official special envoy to the Middle East as well as de facto envoy to Putin, is a former Florida real estate lawyer and golfing partner of Trump with no diplomatic or government service backgrounds.
A central issue of the talks was the situation in Ukraine, Putin confirmed.
He praised the Trump administration and the president personally for their “sincere efforts to help facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict,” calling their desire “to get to the crux of the matter, to understand this history is precious.”
Putin framed the conflict as a “tragedy” and a “terrible wound” for Russia, stressing that the Ukrainian nation and the Russian people share the “same roots.”
He reiterated that for a lasting settlement, it is necessary to “eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict” and “to consider all achievement concerns of Russia and to reinstate a just balance of security in Europe and in the world on the whole.”
This week, Russian Foreign Ministry representative Aleksei Fadeyev reiterated that Moscow is sticking to its demands – echoing Putin’s ultimatum for Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. In addition, Russia insists that Kyiv must abandon its NATO aspirations and that all Western sanctions be lifted.
Commenting on reports of a possible “territory swap,” the Russian diplomat cynically noted that the so-called “territorial structure of the Russian Federation is enshrined in the constitution.”
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
