President Donald Trump dramatically downplayed expectations for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The president is set to meet face-to-face with the Russian leader on Friday in Alaska, but Trump indicated their gathering would essentially be to hear Putin out.
“This is really a feel out meeting, a little bit, and President Putin invited me to get involved,” Trump said. “He wants to get involved. I think, I believe he wants to get it over with.”
It was a major shift from the president’s recent claims that Putin’s talk was “meaningless” and that Russia had been stringing the U.S. along for months.
The president did note on Monday that he has had “great calls” with Putin only to end up disappointed when Russia would continue to strike Ukraine.
“I’m going in to speak with Vladimir Putin, and I’m going to be telling him ‘you got to end it,’” the president said.
Trump praised Putin as “very respectful” for coming to the U.S. for a meeting and said that he hopes they would have a “constructive conversation.”
During the rambling press conference, Trump misspoke twice, stating that he would be “going to Russia on Friday.” He later acknowledged that he would not be leaving the U.S. for the summit.
The president said after he meets with Putin, he will call European leaders as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He suggested there would be a following meeting with Putin and Zelensky.
However, the president also blasted Zelensky for needing constitutional approval for an agreement and claimed that “he’s got approval to go into war and kill everybody” despite it being Russia that invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Trump also repeated his comment that a peace deal would include swapping land, though it remains to be seen what concessions Russia is willing to make to end the war.
“There will be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody,” the president said, adding “for the good of Ukraine, good stuff, not bad stuff, also some bad stuff for both.”
“Russia’s occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They’ve occupied some very prime territory. We’re going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine,” he said.
The president rambled that it was largely “ocean front property. That’s always the most valuable property.”
He said he will see what the parameters are with his meeting.
“I may leave and say, ‘good luck,’ and that’ll be the end. I may say ‘this is not going to be settled,’” he continued.
The president noted in the end it was not up to him to make the deal.
“I’m going to see what they want to meet about. I’d like to see a ceasefire,” Trump said. “I’m going to meet with President Putin, and we’re going to see what he has in mind.”
It will be the first time the Russian leader has set foot on U.S. soil since 2015. It is also Trump’s first in-person meeting with Putin since his first term despite their numerous phone calls as Trump has tried to broker a deal.
“I may say, ‘lot’s of luck, keep fighting,’” Trump said on Monday.
As the planning for their high-stakes meeting ramp up, questions remain about how Ukraine will be included in talks over ending the war.
Pressed over whether Zelensky was invited to the Alaska sit-down, Trump turned to criticizing him.
“I would say he could go, but he’s gone to a lot of meetings,” the president said. “He’s been there for three and a half years. Nothing happened.”
Zelensky said over the weekend that he supports the president’s push for a peace deal and has confidence in him helping see it through, but Zelensky also emphasized that Ukraine must be part of the decision-making.
After Trump suggested on Friday that there would be a “swapping” of territory as part of the negotiations to reach a peace deal, Ukrainian allies have raised concerns over what Russia would concede beyond stopping the fighting after it invaded.
Seven European leaders released a joint statement after Trump announced he would be sitting down with Putin, where they praised Trump for working to end the war and reaffirmed they’re support for Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022.
“The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine,” they said in a statement. “We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force.”
As work toward the historic meeting in Alaska gets underway, Russia continues to strike Ukraine.
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