Overview

• The White House has confirmed the Alaska summit for Aug. 15 as a preliminary “feel-out” meeting to gauge President Vladimir Putin’s readiness to end the Ukraine war.
• President Trump says he will brief Ukrainian and European leaders both before and after the talks and stands ready to broker a follow-on meeting between Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• EU and Ukrainian officials used a virtual call Wednesday to insist that Kyiv be included, that any ceasefire come first and that land-swap proposals be off the table initially.
• In Berlin, President Zelenskyy warned that Putin is “bluffing” about desiring peace and stressed that Ukraine’s constitution bars ceding territory without a public referendum.
• Russia’s unchanged maximalist demands and recent battlefield gains near Pokrovsk in Donetsk region reinforce Moscow’s leverage but complicate prospects for a sustainable deal.