We've covered the upcoming Trump/Putin Alaska Summit, currently scheduled for Friday, August 15th, at a to-be-named location here in the Great Land. Presumably, Ukraine is on the schedule for discussion, with President Trump anxious to broker a peace deal.
In the latest wrinkle, the White House is reportedly considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the meeting as well.
The White House is considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Alaska, where President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, according to a senior U.S. official and three people briefed on the internal discussions.
“It’s being discussed,” one of the people briefed on the discussions said.
The senior U.S. official and people briefed on the discussions said no visit has been finalized and that it’s unclear if Zelenskyy would ultimately be in Alaska for meetings.
So, there's a lot that's unclear about this whole thing. The notion of President Zelensky attending (or not) may well not be decided until the day of the meeting, and even if he does attend, it's not at all likely that all three leaders will be in the room at the same time. Having all three of them in one location would, one would think, be the best way to get them talking to each other, but the White House doesn't seem to be sanguine about the notion. Nor does Ukraine.
Asked whether the U.S. had officially invited Zelenskyy to Alaska, a senior White House official said: “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 Ukrainian government did not respond to a request for comment.
President Putin seems open to some kind of a deal, but it's a safe bet that any deal he would agree to, at least at this stage in the game, would involve Russia keeping the Ukrainian territory he has already conquered. Ukraine is unlikely to accept such a deal, at least not at this point in whatever negotiations may be taking place.
Putin has not agreed to a ceasefire but proposed the outlines of an agreement to end the war that would allow Russia to keep large swaths of Ukrainian territory. Zelenskyy said defiantly on Saturday that Ukrainians “will not give their land to occupiers.”
Trump said Friday that between Russia and Ukraine, “there’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.”
We should note that all President Trump can do here is advise and cajole. Any cease-fire agreement will, in the end, have to be struck between Russia and Ukraine.
Read More: President Trump Announces Big Meeting With Vladimir Putin - in Alaska!
Ukraine's Zelensky Rejects Any Land for Peace Deals Ahead of Trump-Putin Meeting
The closer we get to this Alaska summit, the less clear things seem to get. President Trump and Tsar Vladimir I will meet, but it's unclear if Ukraine will be represented. President Trump and President Putin are both, it seems, open to some kind of deal that involves Russia keeping parts of Ukraine, but that's a deal-breaker for Ukraine. Neither side has been able to force a military solution, and both countries are growing weary of the whole thing.
But, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, it's better to jaw, jaw than to war, war. Maybe President Trump will get Russia and Ukraine to sit down at the same table and try to forge some kind of deal. The only way any deal will be made, after all, will be if both Putin and Zelensky talk to each other and make that deal.
It's going to seem like a long time until the 15th. Stay tuned, because as sure as we're sitting here, there will be more news on this front.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
Help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join RedState and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.