Ukraine-Russia war latest: Trump sets time and place for Putin summit and expects ‘swapping of territories’

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine will not violate its constitution on territorial integrity, declaring that “Ukrainians will not give their land to occupiers,” reported Reuters.

His comments come as US president Donald Trump prepares to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin for peace talks in Alaska on 15 August.

Putin is reportedly demanding Kyiv cede Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea in exchange for ending the war, a territorial concession that would legally require a referendum in Ukraine.

Zelensky said Ukraine is open to real solutions that could bring peace, but warned that any deal made without Kyiv’s involvement would be “a solution against peace”.

President Donald Trump is set to meet with Vladimir Putin in Alaska next week, the state that Russia once laid claim to and nationalists want to take back.

Trump announced Friday that a meeting has been set with the Russian leader on August 15 in the Last Frontier state to discuss the war in Ukraine, which the president claimed he would end “on Day One.”

Despite facing an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, the meeting would mark the first time in a decade that Putin has set foot on US soil.

Critics pointed out that Russia once laid claim to the state of Alaska at the beginning of the 1770s—where they mercilessly exploited Alaskan natives to hunt fur for the Russians—and nationalists have long wanted to take it back.

Top Ukrainian, US, and European officials are expected to hold talks in the UK ahead of Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Vladimir Putin next week, Axios reported, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

The meeting aims to align positions before the Alaska summit, as Trump intensifies efforts to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine. US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow earlier this week, and later joined a series of calls with Ukrainian and European leaders to discuss Russia’s proposals.

Putin is reportedly demanding Kyiv cede Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea in exchange for ending the war. Any such territorial concession would legally require a referendum in Ukraine, a Ukrainian official said.

Talks in the UK are still being finalised, with logistics and participants yet to be confirmed.

Donald Trump has claimed the end of the Ukraine war could come in weeks, despite his latest deadline for Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire passing.

Last Monday, Trump dramatically shortened his previous 50-day ultimatum, giving Russia “10 to 12 days” to make progress toward peace or face tougher sanctions.

Sources close to the Kremlin say Putin is unlikely to bow to Trump’s threats, believing Russia holds the upper hand in the war and that the potential benefits of improved ties with Washington do not outweigh his military aims.

Here, The Independent looks at the times Trump has set deadlines for Russia:

US president Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods in response to New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil, escalating tensions between the two countries after trade talks collapsed.

The tariff, announced on 7 August and set to take effect in 21 days, will raise duties on certain Indian exports to as high as 50 per cent, making India subject to the highest import levy of any US trading partner.

India’s foreign ministry called the move “extremely unfortunate” and “unjustified,” pointing out that many other countries, including the US and EU, have continued trading with Russia.

“Our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, adding that targeting India alone was unfair.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said the US is committed to securing a ceasefire in Ukraine and called for support for all “constructive steps” toward peace.

“A dignified, reliable, and lasting peace can only be the result of our joint efforts,” he said in a brief statement following a call with the Czech president, according to Reuters.

Zelensky added that recent days have seen “many calls, many contacts at various levels,” and stressed the need for Europe to form a united position on key security issues.

His comments come just days before US president Donald Trump is expected to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska on 15 August for direct peace talks. The meeting follows a Russian ceasefire proposal demanding major territorial concessions from Kyiv in exchange for halting hostilities.

President Donald Trump’s phone calls with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, often last for hours because of the Kremlin’s leader’s penchant for launching into long, grievance-based monologues, according to a new report.

Trump is currently seeking an in-person meeting with Putin in an attempt to thrash out an end to the war in Ukraine, which the president pledged to wrap up within 24 hours of returning to the White House in January.

Trump and Putin have held “multiple calls and passed numerous messages through intermediaries” of late, according to officials cited by The Wall Street Journal.

Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who died while in Russian captivity last year, was laid to rest in Kyiv on Friday, as colleagues and press groups called for greater international pressure to free other Ukrainian reporters held by Moscow.

Hundreds gathered in central Kyiv to honour Roshchyna, 27, whose early frontline reporting offered rare insights into life under Russian occupation.

“It is very sad… it is really about losing a professional who was braver than any of us,” journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk told Reuters. “We pay tribute while there are still other Ukrainian reporters behind bars, and with what has happened to her, it is our duty not to stop.”

Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 during a reporting trip in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Her body was identified among remains handed back to Ukraine this year. Prosecutors said signs of injury and possible torture were found, though the exact cause of death remains unknown.

Askold Krushelnycky examines how Donald Trump’s fluctuating position on the Ukraine war has encouraged Kyiv to look closer to home to produce the weapons it needs to fight Russia