Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD
Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just
Try GOLD - Free
Europe left out in the cold as Trump plans to offer Putin deal on Ukraine
The Observer
|August 10, 2025
This week's summit in Alaska is fuelling concerns the US president will offer sweeping concessions to the Russian leader and sideline Kyiv
For months, European leaders worked tirelessly to bring Donald Trump round to their position on Ukraine and make him see that Vladimir Putin is not serious about peace.
By late July those efforts seemed to bear fruit with the US president expressing frustration towards Moscow and threatening new sanctions on Russia should a ceasefire deal not be reached within days.
Now, Europe is in danger of being left out in the cold again.
Hours after Trump's peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, visited Moscow on Wednesday, the US president announced he would meet Putin in Alaska, warning that Ukraine would have to surrender territory to reach a ceasefire deal that could resolve the three-and-a half-year conflict.
"We're going to get some back, and we're going to get some switched," Trump said at the White House on Friday. "There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both."
The Alaska summit will be the first between a US president and Putin since he launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and a major victory for the Russian president restoring him to the global stage on equal footing with Trump after years in isolation from the international community.
This story is from the August 10, 2025 edition of The Observer.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Observer
The Observer
Can a biopic of the Boss be anything other than blinded by his light?
Heavens above, not another biopic. I'm still in recovery from A Complete Unknown, James Mangold’s attempted unveiling of The Mysterious Soul of Bob Dylan starring Timothy Someone-or-other.
2 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
Reeves is still only getting part of the Brexit message
The financial markets, and much of the media, seem obsessed by the level of public sector debt and borrowing.
3 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
The anonymous Twitter troll account set up to discredit Virginia Giuffre
The online attacks came thick and fast, all 479 of them designed to discredit the accuser of Epstein, Maxwell and Prince Andrew.
5 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
Badenoch and Farage should stop playground politics of making rules they can't keep
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That's the golden rule I remember being taught as a child in primary school. Not a bad guiding principle.
3 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
Museums are in the pink while corporate sponsors remain shy
By embracing private philanthropy, the sector has received record sums, however businesses are feeling burnt by protests, write Nicole Fan and Stephen Armstrong
3 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
'Democrat saviour' or 'commie bastard': Mamdani, would-be king of New York
The 34-year-old socialist set to become the Big Apple's first Muslim mayor may be the left's greatest hope - and biggest threat. Hugh Tomlinson joins the new star of US politics on the campaign trail
8 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
Use Russia's money
Europe has missed its chance to hit Putin's finances
2 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
Struggling 'clean food' brands dig in for long haul
Autumn, season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, wrote Keats. Not if you're in the plant-based food industry. Sales at major brands, including Oatly and Beyond Meat, are stalling.
2 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
Reeves mission: to build a European Silicon Valley centred on 'golden triangle'
Brexit is costing the UK 80bn a year in lost taxes, hitting output by up to 8% and investment by more than twice as much. The chancellor has her work cut out
5 mins
October 26, 2025
The Observer
Academics sign letter of support after ‘vile’ abuse of Israeli professor
Tom Watson, Margaret Hodge, Michael Grade, Prof Andrew Roberts and hundreds of academics are among more than 1,600 signatories of an open letter condemning a “targeted harassment campaign” against an Israeli professor at a London university.
1 mins
October 26, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size