Not going to Alaska to 'negotiate for Ukraine', but to 'save a lot of lives', says Trump

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he is not going to Alaska to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine but to bring Putin to the table, emphasising his goal is to save lives.

“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine,” CNN quoted Trump as telling reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Anchorage, Alaska for a high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When asked whether the US would offer security guarantees to Ukraine as part of a peace deal, Trump stopped short of a commitment. “Maybe,” he said, noting that Europe would need to take the lead.

However, he made it clear that such guarantees would not include Ukraine joining Nato.

“Not in the form of Nato,” he said, adding, “There are certain things that aren’t going to happen.”

Trump also dismissed any notion that his efforts are motivated by personal gain.

“I’m not doing this for my health. OK, I don’t need it,” he said. “I’d like to focus on our country, but I’m doing this to save a lot of lives.”

On potential consequences for Russia should Putin refuse to negotiate seriously, Trump warned, “Yes, it will be very severe,” referring to possible economic measures against Moscow.

Highlighting the positive tone of US-Russia relations, Trump acknowledged the presence of Russian business leaders accompanying Putin to the summit.

“I noticed he’s bringing a lot of business people from Russia, and that’s good. I like that because they want to do business, but they’re not doing business until we get the war solved,” he said.

Asked if business discussions would be part of the agenda, Trump said, “If we make progress, I would discuss it, because that’s one of the things that they would like; they’d like to get a piece of what I built in terms of the economy.”

Despite acknowledging the challenges, Trump expressed cautious optimism about the summit’s outcome.

“Look, he’s a smart guy. Been doing it for a long time, but so have I. I’ve been doing it for a long time, and here we are: We’re president,” Trump said.

“We get along. There’s a good respect level on both sides, and I think, you know, something’s going to come of it," he added.

Counting on America, says Zelenskyy

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy underscored the high stakes of the Trump-Putin meeting, stressing that Ukraine will be “counting on America” and calling for a substantive trilateral discussion involving Ukraine, the US, and Russia.

“The key thing is that this meeting should open up a real path toward a just peace and a substantive discussion between leaders in a trilateral format – Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian side,” CNN quoted Zelenskyy as saying in a statement.

“It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America. We are ready, as always, to work as productively as possible,” he added, noting he is awaiting an intelligence report on “the current intentions of the Russian side and its preparations for the meeting in Alaska.”

With inputs from agencies