Trump says he thinks Putin will ‘make a deal’ on Ukraine

The US president’s words travel connected the eve of his intimately watched Alaska acme with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

One time earlier the leaders of Russia and the United States are set to meet successful the US authorities of Alaska to sermon ending the Russia-Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump said helium believes his Russian counterpart is acceptable “to marque a deal”.

In an interrogation connected Fox News Radio connected Thursday, Trump said helium believed Russian President Vladimir Putin “wanted the full thing” – successful an evident notation to his territorial aspirations successful Ukraine – but was consenting to travel to the array and marque a woody owed to the narration betwixt the 2 men.

“I deliberation helium wants to get it done. I truly consciousness helium wanted the full thing. I deliberation if it weren’t me, if it were idiosyncratic else, helium would not beryllium talking to anybody,” Trump told interviewer Brian Kilmeade.

Trump and Putin volition conscionable successful Alaska connected Friday for talks connected the much than three-year conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy volition not beryllium contiguous astatine the talks, though Trump has said that should Putin awesome a willingness to extremity the war, different gathering betwixt the 2 leaders would follow.

“I don’t cognize that we’re going to get an contiguous ceasefire, but I deliberation it’s going to come. See, I’m much funny successful an contiguous bid woody – getting bid fast. And depending connected what happens with my meeting, I’m going to beryllium calling up President Zelenskyy and [saying] let’s get him implicit to wherever we’re going to meet,” Trump said.

He added that determination was the anticipation they could simply “stay successful Alaska”, but besides stressed that if the gathering went poorly, “I’m not calling anyone. I’m going home.”

That hedging represents a seeming cautiousness by Trump, who has spoken astir being frustrated by Putin’s breached promises successful the past.

Speaking from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi said Trump’s metric for occurrence could beryllium boiled down to what work helium had connected Putin.

“He precise overmuch made it wide that what occurrence means successful this discourse is him being convinced that Vladimir Putin is superior astir peace, and past arranging a 2nd gathering that would impact the Ukrainians,” helium said.

Earlier connected Thursday, Putin praised Trump, saying helium was “making rather energetic and sincere efforts to extremity the fighting”.

The words came soon aft Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer successful London, wherever they discussed information guarantees for Ukraine that could “make bid genuinely durable if the United States succeeds successful pressing Russia to halt the killings and prosecute successful genuine, substantive diplomacy”, Zelenskyy wrote connected X.

The meeting, said Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, “was astir a amusement of unity up of that acme successful Alaska”.

Hull noted determination was a “sense of immoderate optimism” pursuing the Wednesday call betwixt Trump, Zelenskyy and European leaders.

“[Trump] took a somewhat stronger enactment against Putin than was expected, saying the Russian president faced terrible consequences if helium didn’t meaningfully prosecute successful ceasefire talks,” helium noted.