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United States President Donald Trump threatened “severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin blocked peace in Ukraine, but also said a meeting between the pair could swiftly be followed by a second that included the Ukrainian leader.
Trump did not specify what the consequences could be, but he has warned of economic sanctions if a meeting between himself and Putin in Alaska on Friday proved fruitless.
The comments by Trump and the mood after a virtual meeting of Trump, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could provide some hope for Ukraine after fears the Alaska meeting could sell out Ukraine and carve up its territory.
However, Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe’s demands strongly and previously said its stance had not changed since it was set out by Putin in June 2024.
When asked if Russia would face any consequences if Putin does not agree to stop the war after Friday’s meeting, Trump responded: “Yes, they will.”
Asked if those consequences would be sanctions or tariffs, Trump told reporters: “I don’t have to say, there will be very severe consequences.”
But Trump also described the aim of the meeting between the pair in Alaska as “setting the table” for a quick follow-up that would include Zelenskyy.
“If the first one goes okay, we’ll have a quick second one,” he said.
“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 time frame for a second meeting.
Putin is ‘bluffing’, Zelenskyy says
European leaders and Zelenskyy had earlier spoken with Trump in a last-ditch call hosted by Germany to lay out red lines ahead of the Alaska meeting.
“We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelenskyy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, very friendly,” Trump said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump agreed Ukraine must be involved in any discussions about ceding land, while Zelenskyy said Trump had supported the idea of security guarantees in a post-war settlement.
“President Trump was very clear that the United States wanted to achieve a ceasefire at this meeting in Alaska,” Macron said.
“The second point on which things were very clear, as expressed by President Trump, is that territories belonging to Ukraine cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who hosted the virtual meeting, said the principle that borders could not be changed by force must continue to apply.
“If there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and we Europeans should … increase the pressure,” he said.
“President Trump knows this position, he shares it very extensively and therefore I can say: We have had a really exceptionally constructive and good conversation with each other.”
Trump and Putin are due to discuss how to end the three-and-a-half-year-old conflict, the biggest in Europe since World War Two. Trump has previously said both sides will have to swap land to end fighting that has cost tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he hoped the Trump-Putin talks would centre on a ceasefire, and he warned Trump that Putin was “bluffing” about his desire to end the war.
“I told the US president and all our European colleagues that Putin is bluffing,” he said at a briefing in Berlin.
“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front. Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy said he wanted a three-leader meeting, saying no talks about Ukraine should exclude his country’s representatives.
