U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday (August 14, 2025) he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a deal about his war on Ukraine, and that the threat of sanctions against Russia likely played a role in Moscow’s decision to seek a meeting. Mr. Trump is scheduled to meet with Mr. Putin in Alaska on Friday (August 15, 2025). The U.S. President said he is unsure whether an immediate ceasefire can be achieved, but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement.

“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,” Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”

Putin praises U.S. for ‘sincere efforts’

Earlier in the day, Mr. Putin said the United States was making “sincere efforts” to end the war in Ukraine and suggested Moscow and Washington could agree on a nuclear arms deal as part of a broader push to strengthen peace.

Mr. Trump also mentioned during the Fox interview that he has three locations in mind for a follow-up meeting with Mr. Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, though he noted that a second meeting is not guaranteed.

He said staying in Alaska for a three-way summit would be the easiest scenario.

“Depending on what happens with my meeting, I’m going to be calling up President Zelenskyy, and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet,” Mr. Trump said.

He said a second meeting, featuring Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin, and Mr. Zelenskyy, would likely dig deeper into boundary issues. Mr. Zelenskyy has been adamant about not ceding territory that Russian forces occupy.

“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?” he said.

“But there will be a give and take as to boundaries, lands, etc, etc. The second meeting is going to be very, very very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game. This (first) meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25% chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,” he said.

He said it would be up to Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy to strike an agreement.

“I’m not going to negotiate their deal. I’m going to let them negotiate their deal,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Berlin on Wednesday (August 13, 2025) to join German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for talks with European and U.S. leaders ahead of the Trump-Putin summit later this week, the German government said.

Mr. Merz has convened a series of virtual meetings on Wednesday (August 13, 2025) in an attempt to have the voice of European and Ukraine’s leaders heard ahead of a summit that they have been sidelined from.

Mr. Zelenskyy is due to meet with European leaders first, to prepare for a virtual call with U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance about an hour later. A call between leaders involved in the “coalition of the willing” countries prepared to help police any future peace agreement will take place last.

Mr. Trump has said he wants to see whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year.

Mr. Trump has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He also said Russia must accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Mr. Putin might be expected to surrender.

The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Mr. Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to intimidate the EU, might secure favourable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.

European countries’ overarching fear is that Mr. Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.

Mr. Zelenskyy said Tuesday (august 12, 2025) that Mr. Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that still it controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected.

Mr. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not give up any territory it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.

He said diplomatic discussions led by the U.S. focusing on ending the war have not addressed key Ukrainian demands, including security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression and including Europe in negotiations.

Three weeks after Mr. Trump returned to office, his administration took the leverage of Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table — something that Mr. Putin has demanded — and signalled that the EU and Ukraine must handle security in Europe now while America focuses its attention elsewhere.

Mr. Trump has also routinely threatened and cajoled his NATO allies over defence spending, and has shown little mercy in trade talks by hiking tariffs on most EU imports to 5%, ostensibly for U.S. national security reasons.

Senior EU officials believe that Mr. Trump may be satisfied with simply securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, and is probably more interested in broader U.S. geostrategic interests and great power politics, aiming to ramp up business with Russia and rehabilitate Mr. Putin.