Trump and Putin meeting: ‘Whatever comes of it, Zelensky is screwed’

Read time: 5 mins

In brief…

• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will be excluded from peace talks between America and Russia, and has warned his US counterpart that the Russian leader will bring deception to the negotiation table.
• Mikhail Kasyanov says trying to negotiate a ceasefire with Putin is pointless, since one of his biggest political aspirations is to “destroy” the country.
• The News Agents believe this week’s meeting was inevitable since the Zelensky Oval Office clash of February this year, with Trump simply wanting to end the war, regardless of who benefits most.

What’s the story?

What's the price of peace? For Ukraine, that might be giving up its own territory to Russia, which has waged war against its smaller – but defiantly resilient – neighbour since February 2022.

Donald Trump will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska on 15 August to discuss ending his country's illegal invasion. Trump's Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, said a deal is likely to include Russia being allowed to keep Ukrainian territory it has seized during the conflict, and land it has attempted to claim.

Ukraine has not been invited, and neither have any European leaders.

This has not gone down well with Ukraine's leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has claimed Russia will attempt to "deceive" Trump and his administration during negotiations, and called for tougher sanctions to be enforced, rather than pushing ahead with a one-sided agreement on peace.

Russia occupies around 20% of Ukraine following two and half years of military action.

“It looks like they're going to get together, carve up Ukraine between themselves, and then say to Zelensky, are you accepting this?” Jon Sopel says.

“If Zelensky says no, Trump will say he wants this war to go on and on, like he did when the two met at the White House.

“It’s very hard to see how anything is a win for Zelensky that comes out of this.”

‘This meeting in Alaska will be useless’

Mikhail Kasyanov, former Prime Minister of Russia between 2000 and 2004 under Putin's leadership, believes the meeting is an entirely “useless” exercise.

He tells The News Agents that Putin will make no concessions to his terms and conditions (preventing Ukraine from joining the United Nations, and recognition of the ground it’s captured during the war), which are unacceptable for both the people of Ukraine, and Europe.

Ukraine has rejected these conditions on numerous occasions.

“We should not expect any fruitful results, only a diplomatic meeting, which will play in Mr. Putin’s favour," Kasyanov says.

“It's not possible to sell Ukraine without the will of Ukrainian people.”

He says Trump's only goal is to secure a ceasefire agreement from Putin, no matter the cost.

“Trump will try to please Mr. Putin with this diplomatic meeting. It could be seen as very historical, but without any positive consequences,” he adds.

“Trump wants a deal, but he will not get this transaction.”

And, Kasyanov adds, Putin knows this, having “studied” Trump, and knowing how he works.

He believes he will likely succeed in convincing Trump that his demands are not only justified, but that his position is "historically justified".

"The expectation is that Mr. Trump would press Ukrainians just to accept this deal, because Trump needs a deal," he says.

"I don't think that will work, but it is a great concern among many people that Mr. Trump could go this way, and that will be an awful situation."

He believes the meeting should be cancelled, and Trump should instead impose increased sanctions on Russia.

"The main goal for Putin is to destroy Ukraine and to be seen with the President of the United States, discussing and settling the fate of the world,” he adds.

“He's dreaming about getting this respect from everyone in the world."

Why the only winner here is Putin

Since Russia first invaded Ukraine, it has been hit with strict sanctions and isolated from engaging in the international diplomatic system.

The meeting in Alaska, which will inevitably be a visual, political spectacle for both men, is the complete opposite of that.

"It has been American and Western policy to put Vladimir Putin and the Russian state into the deep freeze, to isolate them, to not engage with them, to remove them from the international financial system,” says Lewis Goodall.

"What Trump is choosing to do is to reverse, to change that long-standing policy which began in the Biden administration, and to welcome him back as a legitimate player of the great power game."

Lewis says sitting down with the president of the United States has been Putin's goal from day one, and the thing dreaded by Europe since the explosive Oval Office meeting of February 2025 between Trump and Zelensky, which showed Trump had no time for the Ukraine president.

"This is exactly the vision of great power politics that Putin subscribes to," Lewis adds.

"No matter what happens on Friday, Trump is gifting him a meeting with a US president for apparently no concessions – at least as far as we can see at the moment."

Lewis struggles to find any sympathy with leaders such as Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron or Friedrich Merz, who have spoken about how important it is for EU nations to be involved in discussions, having known for so long that this was where the Trump administration was headed.

"I think we can say with some certainty that European powers are not going to be involved in this. They barely appear as if they're being consulted by the White House," he says.

"We've known the direction of travel of the White House before the election, and certainly since the Trump / Zelensky blow up in the Oval Office.

"We can’t be surprised this has happened, because it has been on the cards for a long time that Trump would want to meet Putin.

Putin has played Trump, he concludes, "like a fiddle".

"You fear and feel that Zelensky will be screwed by whatever it is that comes out of it," Jon adds.

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.