Alaska summit with Trump 'gave Putin what he wanted,' Zelensky says
U.S. President Donald Trump gave Russian President Vladimir Putin "what he wanted" by meeting him in Alaska last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with ABC News published on Sept. 7.
"It's a pity that Ukraine was not there, because I think that President Trump gave... Putin what he wanted," Zelensky said about the high-level summit in Anchorage on Aug. 15.
Ukraine was not invited to the meeting, which marked Putin's first visit to the U.S. during the full-scale war and was seen as a clear break from the diplomatic isolation imposed on the Russian leader.
Putin doesn't want to meet with me, but he wants very much to meet with the president of the United States, to show everybody video and images that he is there," Zelensky said in the interview on Sept. 5.
Though Trump met Zelensky and European leaders in Washington a few days after the Alaska summit, Putin continues to avoid a meeting with the Ukrainian president, despite Trump's effort to arrange it.
Zelensky has previously voiced readiness to meet Putin on neutral ground, including during Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul earlier this year. The Kremlin has rejected a proposal and suggested a meeting in Moscow, which was, in turn, dismissed by Zelensky.
"He can come to Kyiv," Zelensky told ABC News. "I can't go to Moscow when my country's under missiles, under attack, each day. I can't go to the capital of this terrorist."
Despite international efforts to negotiate an end to the war, Moscow has refused calls for a ceasefire and continued to push maximalist demands, namely, a ban on Ukraine joining NATO and control over the entire Donetsk Oblast, including areas not controlled by Russian forces.
Simultaneously, Russia has ramped up deadly aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities, launching a record 810 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Sept. 7.
Speaking to ABC News, Zelensky said that "Putin's goal is to occupy Ukraine," and "until he can do it, the victory is on our side."
"So that's why for us to survive is a victory," he added.
Following the latest Russian strike on Ukraine, Trump renewed his threats of economic repercussions against Moscow, saying he was ready to move into the "second phase" of sanctions on Russia.
Trump added that "certain European leaders" would visit the White House in the next two days to discuss a peace settlement, though he did not provide names or details.
While Trump has threatened to impose tough penalties on Russia on several occasions, his administration has not enacted any new sanctions against Moscow since Trump took office in January.
The White House has also threatened to impose widespread secondary tariffs on Russian oil importers, but has only taken this step once. In August, Trump imposed steep secondary tariffs on India, one of the major buyers of Russian oil since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Indian officials have said the U.S. tariffs will not stop the country's imports of Russian oil.
