Trump says he’ll meet Putin in Alaska next week, Selensky remains defiant and refuses compromise on territory

It seems that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet on 15 August 2025 in Alaska.

Until 1867, Alaska was Russian territory, when it was sold to the US. The choice of venue for the two heads of states is grandiose.

The topic of the meeting is the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict and, so Putin, to prevent any future similar conflicts.

It is declared intention of Donald Trump to end the war in Ukraine which is either lost or will draw the US directly into an escalating scenario with threats and movements of nuclear weapons. Donald Trump does not see any sense in the continuation of the war in Ukraine, the US has no benefice out of it, but Trump wants to avoid to be brandmarked as looser of Ukraine.

Russia, on the other side has an existential interest in the war in Ukraine. NATO has designed this war to inflict Russia a strategical defeat which would put Russia’s existence in danger. While a weak Russia would be a positive outcome for NATO’s and the EU’s hegemonic strategy trying to absorb Ukraine, Belorussia, Georgia, Moldavia, it would damage Russia and set it back to the 1990 or even could break up Russia which itself is a multi-ethnic state.

This being said, Russia will not accept a defeat or an unfavorable compromise that represents the risk of a revival of NATO’s or the EU’s appetite for eastward expansion.

Trump needs a settlement with Russia. And Trump needs a result that can be presented as a success, within Russians conditions and demands.

The upcoming meeting in Alaska will be fundamentally important, for the conflict in Ukraine, but also for the future of the World which has never been so close to a nuclear WW III.

V Selensky, who is not invited to the meeting in Alaska and who is battling for his survival, is already torpedoing the meeting in Alaska saying that Ukraine will never give up territory. Selensky’s survival depends on the continuation of the war, as in peace he will face a tough future and, at least politically, he will not survive. While Trump already has accepted this principal of territories, which is a fact on the battlefield, he would just negotiate with Putin about the new borders.  Selensky now loudly again opposes Trump and directly demands that Ukraine shall not give up territory. As well, some European voices demand that Selensky shall be party to the negotiations and that the European states shall have a seat at the negotiation table, too.

It seems that nothing has changed since the beginning of 2025, except many more people died in Ukraine, and the risk of a nuclear war increased exponentially. It can only be hoped that Selensky and his European backers are set aside and this time they will not disturb the US-Russian negotiations.