>Putin Hints At Expected Nuclear Arms Treaty Breakthrough With Trump At Summit
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<Russian President Vladimir Putin is due in Anchorage, Alaska for the much anticipated bilateral summit with the US President and on Thursday he has praised the Trump administration’s "energetic" efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
<What's more is that he suggested the two leaders could use the opportunity to strike a deal on nuclear arms control during their direct talks.
<“The current American administration… is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said.
>Inside the Putin-Trump Alaska summit: Arctic power and Ukraine's future
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<Alaska is America's front line in the Arctic, home to nine major military bases and central to U.S. defense strategy in a region where Russia is also expanding its footprint. The state's strategic importance is clear to both Washington and Moscow.
<Putin has warned that NATO countries are "increasingly designating the far north as a staging area for possible conflicts."
<Earlier this year, U.S. troops from Alaska joined NATO allies for "Arctic Forge" in Finland — a multinational war game simulating a NATO ally under attack. The scenario didn't name an enemy, but the implication was clear.
<Now, the Arctic is potentially part of the bargaining table. Russia — the largest Arctic power — is framing energy and infrastructure as the real prize ahead of the summit. The region holds 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and 30% of its natural gas, making it a geopolitical asset with economic incentives for both countries.
<The stakes for Ukraine are high. Any Arctic agreements could serve as leverage in negotiations over the war — traded for land, or for peace.
>Ahead of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, Ukrainians have become bitter
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<The upcoming summit has left the Ukrainian population skeptical, especially since it follows months of intensifying Russian airstrikes deep into the country and heightened tension between Kyiv and Washington. The meeting has been widely discussed in Ukrainian media outlets, with elected officials, political analysts and military personnel all attempting, one after the other, to shed light on the situation, which has not been seen since the start of the war. Opinions differ, but all agree on at least two points: no one knows what will happen on August 15, and Putin will not give up on his war goals, namely, taking complete control of Ukraine.
<Zelensky's absence from the meeting has embittered Ukrainians. Many feel as though their country's fate is being decided without them, even though their territory was struck by the Russian invasion three and a half years ago, on February 24, 2022. "I don't understand how it is possible to come to an agreement on something concerning Ukraine without Ukraine," said artist Svitlana Chebanova, 44, from Mykolaiv. "I don't understand what kind of diplomacy this is." Many were shocked that Trump had invited Putin to his country, a man who has been the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant since March 2023, over suspected war crimes.
>'Mired In Soviet Decision-Making': Report Pins Immense Losses On Zelensky's Firing Of Gen. Zaluzhny
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<The Western mainstream media continues the trend of turning on Ukraine, now that it's clear that it cannot win the war against Russia. Recall that during the opening couple years of war, the MSM treated any criticisms of Zelensky or the Ukrainian Army as totally off-limits.
<But now, a fresh Wall Street Journal report published Tuesday calls out Ukraine’s military for having increasingly adopted a rigid, Soviet-style command structure that stifles battlefield initiative.
<Soldiers interviewed by the outlet described large-scale meatgrinder type tactics of blindly being sent on suicidal frontal assaults while being denied permission to withdraw from dangerous positions.
>Zelensky meeting British PM ahead of US-Russia summit
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<Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was preparing to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday ahead of a key US-Russia summit in Alaska.
<Zelensky was to arrive at 9.30am local time at Downing Street, the prime minister’s office said, after Starmer on Wednesday maintained there was now a “viable” chance for a Ukraine ceasefire.
>Washington Post: Europeans, Zelensky Cite Unity with Trump Ahead of Putin Summit in Alaska
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<European leaders on Wednesday implored President Donald Trump to keep one key point in mind when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska: The United States cannot – must not – negotiate away Ukrainian territory, especially for nothing in return.
<As Trump floats “land swaps,” Kyiv’s European backers have rejected a Russian proposal to trade Ukrainian land for an undefined truce.
<European leaders pressed their priorities in a call with Trump organized by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday. They spoke first with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who traveled to Berlin, and then Trump joined. The call was intended to shape Trump’s thinking before the Alaska summit on Friday, with the anxious Europeans well aware that Trump in the past has seemed to fall under Putin’s spell.
<European leaders emerged heralding the conversation as unifying.