A Russian investment envoy said on Saturday that some countries would make “colossal efforts” to disrupt a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine.
The warning came a day after Trump announced he would meet Putin in Alaska on Friday, 15 August, after Russia and Ukraine were reported to be on the verge of a ceasefire agreement that could end the three-and-a-half-year conflict.
The envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, accused unnamed countries of seeking to prolong the war. “Undoubtedly, a number of countries wishing for the conflict to continue will make colossal efforts to disrupt the scheduled meeting between President Putin and President Trump,” he said, clarifying that he meant efforts involving “provocations and disinformation”. He did not specify which countries he was referring to or the nature of the potential “provocations”.
Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, confirmed the meeting’s focus, saying the two leaders would “discuss options for achieving a long-term peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis”.
“Certainly, this process will be difficult, but we will participate in it positively and enthusiastically,” Ushakov added.
A land-for-peace proposal
The proposed deal has not yet been revealed, but it could require Ukraine to cede vast swathes of its territory, a prospect opposed by a number of European countries.
The Wall Street Journal, citing European and Ukrainian officials, reported that the Russian president had presented the Trump administration with a proposal for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine. The proposal includes significant territorial demands from Kyiv and a push for international recognition of Moscow’s claims.
The offer, conveyed by Putin to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, has sparked widespread diplomatic debate. European officials have expressed serious reservations, stating that the proposal requires Ukraine to cede the eastern Donbas region without Moscow offering significant commitments beyond halting the fighting.
European and Ukrainian officials, who were briefed on the proposal, voiced concerns that the offer could be a Russian manoeuvre to avoid new U.S. sanctions and tariffs while continuing the war on the ground.
According to sources familiar with the diplomatic contact, Putin told the U.S. envoy he would agree to a comprehensive ceasefire if Ukrainian forces completely withdrew from the eastern Donetsk region. This would mean Russia would control Donetsk and Luhansk, in addition to the Crimean Peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
In a third call on Friday, Witkoff told European officials the Russian proposal consisted of two stages: Ukraine withdraws from Donetsk and the front lines are frozen, followed by a final peace agreement between Putin and Trump, to be negotiated later with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukraine rejects ceding territory
The proposal drew a sharp rebuke from Zelenskyy, who said on Saturday that Ukraine will not cede any of its territory to Russia and that any peace negotiations must include Kyiv.
“Of course, we will not give Russia a reward for what it has done. Ukrainians deserve peace,” Zelenskyy said in a post on the social media platform X. “The answer to the question of Ukrainian territory is already in the Ukrainian constitution, and no one will deviate from this, and no one will be able to do it. Ukrainians do not give their land to the occupier.”
He added: “Any decision against us, any decision without Ukraine, is a decision against peace.”
Commenting directly on the summit, Zelenskyy said it could not succeed without his country’s participation.
“President Trump announced preparations for his meeting with Putin in Alaska, at a vast distance from this war that is raging on our land, against our people, and which can in no way be ended without us, without Ukraine,” he said. “They will achieve nothing. These are stillborn decisions that cannot be worked on.”
“We are ready to work with President Trump, and with all our partners, for a genuine, and most importantly, lasting peace. A peace that will not collapse due to Moscow’s desires,” he concluded.
