What Trump and Putin have said they want from the summitpublished at 05:31 British Summer Time
Image source, EPA/ReutersTrump has been pushing hard to end the war.
He promised to do so within 24 hours when elected, but so far hasn’t had success brokering a deal.
He’s given a mixed picture of his hopes for today – saying he’d try to get back some territory Russia had occupied for Ukraine, but that there’d also be “some swapping, changes in land”.
The White House has been trying to win over European leaders’ support for a deal that would hand over swathes of Ukrainian territory to Russia, the BBC’s US partner CBS News has reported.
However, Trump has also appeared to try to lower expectations ahead of the talks – he has called today a “feel-out meeting” and his press secretary described it as “listening session”.
Putin also says he wants to end the war, though no details have yet emerged about what he might demand today. At this stage, though, there’s no reason to believe he’s budged on his maximalist preconditions for peace.
Just a few weeks ago, he said his position hadn’t changed since June – when Russia presented Ukraine with a memorandum setting out conditions for a “final settlement” of the conflict. The memorandum said that Ukraine must reduce its military and not join Nato, and that Russia’s territorial gains – including annexation of Crimea and four eastern regions – must be internationally recognised.
Trump comments last week that there could be “some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Russia and Ukraine – sparked concern in Kyiv and across Europe that Moscow could be allowed to redraw Ukraine’s borders by force.
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