Trump warns Putin faces 'severe consequences' if no truce agreed

Threat issued after talks with European leaders before Alaska summit

- Patrick Wintour

Vladimir Putin would face "very severe consequences" if he did not agree a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine at his summit with Donald Trump in Alaska, the US president said yesterday.

Speaking after a call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders, including Keir Starmer, Trump also suggested he would push for a second summit if his meeting with Putin went well - this time including his Ukrainian counterpart.

"If the first one goes okay, we'll have a quick second one," Trump told reporters in Washington. "I would like to do it almost immediately, and we'll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself, if they'd like to have me there."

Trump did not provide a timeframe for a second meeting. He is due to meet Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, tomorrow.

When asked whether Russia would face consequences if Putin did not agree to stop the war after the Alaska meeting, Trump said: "Yes, they will... very severe consequences."

The president's remarks followed what he described as a very good call with European leaders in which he consulted about the goal and strategy for his summit.

He pleased Europe's leadership by giving reassurances that a cease-fire was his priority and he would not make any territorial concessions without Kyiv's full involvement.

Trump's approach at the video conference, as described by France's Emmanuel Macron, appeared to reassure some of the leaders, who were making a final collective plea to the unpredictable US president that he had a duty to protect Ukraine's sovereignty and European security at the talks in Alaska.

The European leaders spoke with Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance, in a hastily convened one-hour meeting in an effort to shape Trump's negotiating strategy.