When US President Donald Trump and his Russia counterpart, Vladimir Putin, meet this week in Alaska for talks on ending the war in Ukraine, many will be looking for a breakthrough, though Ukrainians who recently spoke with RFE/RL don’t expect one.
After more than three years of war, on-again, off-again peace talks, missed deadlines, and thousands of dead as Ukraine fights to repel invading Russian troops, any optimism that there will be progress at the talks in Alaska on August 15 — at least so far — appears not to be shared by Ukrainians.
“You know, there is not much hope for any positive developments,” one man in Kyiv told Current Time. “I think it is just a new phase in the chain of deadlines. And I am afraid this kind of thing will last for the rest of the current US president’s term.”
Ahead of the meeting, Washington appears to be preparing Kyiv and Moscow for major compromises to end the war, with US Vice President JD Vance warning any peace deal will likely leave both sides “unhappy.”
Russia has consistently given the idea of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the cold shoulder, suggesting it should only happen once the sides are close to signing a peace deal, not just a cease-fire agreement.
That moment seems far off given the huge gap between the Russian and Ukrainian positions that persists on several major issues, including territory and security, despite three rounds of direct talks in Turkey since mid-May.
Putin rejected Zelenskyy’s offer to meet face-to-face when the two sides held the first round of negotiations in Istanbul.
He reiterated that position last week, saying that while he has nothing against meeting with Zelenskyy, “certain conditions must be created” first and that for now those conditions are “far away.”
“I don’t expect anything to come from it. I only expect something from Ukraine’s military,” a woman in the capital said.
The talks come at a pivotal moment, with Trump increasingly frustrated with Putin and the Russian president showing no signs of bending on the Kremlin’s maximalist demands. Trump and Putin have held six phone calls, and the White House’s lead envoy has traveled to Moscow at least three times.
The decision to meet Putin face-to-face — something Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, refused to do following the invasion — reflects Trump’s belief that his relationship with the Russian leader will yield a durable peace agreement.
For Putin, meeting Trump in person — without the presence of Zelenskyy or Ukrainian officials — elevates him to Trump’s level and aligns with his position that Zelenskyy is an illegitimate leader and that a grand bargain to end the war can only be reached directly with the United States.
Traveling to the United States is also a small victory for Putin who is under a war crimes arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. Members of the court are obliged to detain him, but the United States is not a member, and the Trump administration is openly hostile to the Hague tribunal.
Still, one woman told Current Time that while she doesn’t expect any progress as a result of the meeting, maybe Trump will be able to push Putin along the path to peace.
“I don’t expect anything anymore,” she said, adding, “I still hope for something. And my friends also hope…that Trump will do something.”
