Overview

• Presidents Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska on August 15 to negotiate a cease-fire and possible territorial exchanges over Donbas and Crimea
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski has rejected any deal made without Kyiv’s involvement as “stillborn” and insisted Ukraine will not cede territory
• Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov led months of back-and-forth diplomacy that paved the way for the first face-to-face talks between the two leaders since 2019
• The Kremlin’s confirmation followed Trump’s Truth Social announcement, underscoring U.S. efforts to broker a peace deal outside established European-led channels
• Trump has maintained a tariff ultimatum that could impose additional duties on Russian operations if Moscow does not advance toward a peace agreement by his deadline