US President Donald Trump has said both Ukraine and Russia would have to cede land to each other to end the war and that his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin would be aimed at taking the temperature on a possible deal.
Trump told a White House press conference on Monday that his talks on Friday with Putin in Alaska would be a "feel-out meeting" to determine whether Putin was willing to make a deal. He said he could know within two minutes whether progress was possible.
"So I'm going in to speak to Vladimir Putin, and I'm going to be telling him, you've got to end this war. You've got to end it," Trump told reporters.
Trump also said a future meeting could include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and could end up being a three-way session including himself and Putin.
He said he would speak to European leaders soon after his talks with Putin and that his goal was a speedy ceasefire in the bloody conflict.
Europeans, however, worry that major concessions to Russia could create security problems for the West in the future.
Russia currently occupies about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, while Ukraine holds barely any Russian territory.
Trump said he was a "little bothered" by Zelenskyy's stance on territorial concessions, and insisted that land swaps would take place.
"There'll be some land swapping going on," he said.
"I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody, to the good of Ukraine," he said. He said Russia had occupied some "very prime territory" but that "we're going to try to get some of that territory back".
Ukraine has sought to push back Russians ever since the largest and deadliest war in Europe since WW2 began in February 2022.
Russia justifies the war on the grounds of what it calls threats to its security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kiev and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab.
Russia's goal is to 'buy time'
Also on Monday, Zelenskyy day claimed that Russia's goal is to "buy time" rather than end the war.
"We see it the same way, and it is obvious that the Russians simply want to buy time, not end the war," Zelenskyy stated on X, following his talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on the phone.
He stressed that no decisions about Ukraine's future should be made without its participation and without "clear security guarantees."
In a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Zelenskyy said that it was necessary for India to limit Russian oil exports.
Under Modi, India is facing 50 percent tariffs by the US, partly over purchases of Russian oil and defence equipments.
The Trump administration has accused New Delhi of funding Moscow's war in Ukraine.
"I noted that it is necessary to limit the export of Russian energy, particularly oil, to reduce its potential and ability to finance the continuation of this war. It is important that every leader who has tangible leverage over Russia sends the corresponding signals to Moscow," Zelenskyy said on X.
