Putin is ready to make a deal, says Trump ahead of Alaska meeting

Donald Trump said he believed Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on the war in Ukraine as the two leaders prepared for their summit in Alaska today, but his suggestion that Moscow and Kyiv would "divvy things up" may cause alarm.

- Patrick Wintour

The US president implied there was a 75% chance of the Alaska meeting succeeding, and that the threat of economic sanctions may have made Putin more willing to seek an end to the war. He also said a second meeting - at present not confirmed - between himself, Putin and Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, would be the more decisive.

"The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up, but you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term, OK?" Trump told Fox News Radio. He was referring to the possibility that Zelenskyy will have to accept "land swaps" - in practice the handing over of Ukrainian territory to Russia, potentially including some not captured by Moscow.

Later yesterday Trump suggested any trilateral meeting could happen quickly - possibly in Alaska.

Trump conceded he was unsure whether an immediate ceasefire could be achieved, but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement. Speaking of Putin, he said: "He's, he really, I believe now, he's convinced that he's going to make a deal, he's going to make a deal. I think he's going to, and we're going to find out."

Zelenskyy will face a difficult choice if Putin rejects Ukraine's call for a full 30-day ceasefire and offers only a partial break in the fighting, particularly if Trump thinks a three-way meeting should still go ahead.

The Ukrainian president spent much of yesterday in London discussing the outcome of Wednesday's video call between European leaders and Trump with the prime minister, Keir Starmer. European leaders were largely relieved with the way the conversation had gone, but know Trump is unpredictable and prone to acting on instinct rather than sticking to a prearranged script.