Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday dismissed the idea of ceding land to Russia as part of a ceasefire deal, directly rebuffing U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that a "swapping" of territories could end the war.
"The answer to Ukraine's territorial question is already in the constitution of Ukraine," Zelensky said on Telegram. "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier." He added that "any solutions that are against us, any solutions that are without Ukraine, are simultaneously solutions against peace."
The remarks came a day after Trump announced on Truth Social that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska to discuss the war. Trump told reporters at the White House that "there'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both," though he did not specify whether the proposal involved formal cessions or temporary withdrawals from contested regions.
A White House official said Friday that Moscow had provided a list of demands for a potential ceasefire, and that Washington was seeking "buy-in" from Kyiv and European allies. Russia has previously insisted on retaining all territories it claims to have annexed-Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea-though its forces do not fully control them.
Zelensky reiterated that Ukraine must be part of any negotiations. He later spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom reaffirmed their support for a just and lasting peace. A British government spokesperson said Foreign Minister David Lammy and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance were meeting Ukrainian and European officials in the U.K. to coordinate on the U.S.-led peace push.
The Alaska summit will mark Trump and Putin's first meeting since Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. In his first term, Trump called Putin "a strong and smart leader," but in recent months he has described the Kremlin head as "disappointing" and "tapping me along."
Trump had warned that new sanctions and tariffs against Russia and countries buying its exports would take effect Friday unless Putin agreed to a ceasefire. As of Saturday, it was unclear whether those measures had been imposed. Analysts cautioned that the meeting may yield little more than symbolic progress. "The underlying issues have not changed," said Peter Watkins, an associate fellow at Chatham House. "For Russia, this isn't just about territory, it's about controlling Ukraine as a whole."
On the ground, Russian forces continued to press their offensive. Ukraine's Air Force Command reported that 47 drones were launched overnight, with 31 striking targets in multiple regions. In Kherson, a drone hit a minibus, killing two people and injuring six, according to the regional prosecutor's office.
