President Donald J. Trump reportedly made clear Friday that his high-stakes meeting in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin would not involve him bargaining away Ukraine’s sovereignty — a decision he insists belongs solely to Kyiv.
Speaking aboard Air Force One as he traveled to the summit site, the president cast himself as a bulwark against Moscow’s ambitions, declaring that without his leadership, Russia would have already swallowed Ukraine entirely.
“Vladimir Putin wanted to take all of Ukraine. If I wasn’t president, he would right now be taking all of Ukraine,” Mr. Trump said flatly. “But he’s not going to do it.”
The president’s assertion fits into a broader pattern of Trump-era diplomacy, in which he positions American strength and unpredictability as deterrents to aggression — and contrasts his record with what he views as the weakness of prior administrations.
When pressed on whether the talks might touch on territorial concessions, Mr. Trump was adamant that the decision rests with Ukraine’s elected leadership. “They’ll be discussed, but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision,” he said. “And I think they’ll make a proper decision. But I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them at a table.”
The president’s framing underscored a consistent conservative critique of past U.S. foreign policy — namely, that Washington too often takes on the burdens of negotiation for other nations, rather than empowering allies to stand on their own feet.
Mr. Trump also addressed reports of continued Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory in the hours leading up to the summit.
He cast those actions as part of Putin’s pre-summit gamesmanship. “I think they’re trying to negotiate. He’s trying to set a stage. I mean, in his mind, that helps him make a better deal,” Mr. Trump observed. “It actually hurts him. But in his mind, that helps him make a better deal. I’ll be talking to him about it.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not be part of the Alaska meeting — a point critics may seize upon — but Mr. Trump signaled his openness to a follow-up session involving all three leaders.
Such a phased approach, he suggested, allows for groundwork to be laid before a broader negotiation table is set.
While confident in his own leverage, Mr. Trump was characteristically blunt about the risks. He estimated a “25 percent chance” that his initial talks with Mr. Putin might not succeed.
His immediate objective for Friday’s discussion, he said, was not to force a breakthrough, but to “set the table for the next meeting.”
For a president who campaigned on ending endless wars and putting “America First,” the Alaska summit is another test of whether his deal-making brand of diplomacy can reduce tensions without costly military entanglements — and whether his direct, leader-to-leader engagement can secure outcomes his predecessors failed to achieve.
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