Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning a further offensive despite Donald Trump‘s hopes that their upcoming Alaska summit can bring peace in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
The Ukrainian president said Monday his country’s intelligence service had found that Putin had no intention of ending the fighting, adding to doubts that a breakthrough can be achieved during Friday’s talks, from which Zelensky is likely to be absent.
George Beebe, former director of the CIA‘s Russia analysis, told Newsweek there was reason to hope the Putin-Trump summit can help advance an end to the war in Ukraine but negotiations would have to eventually involve Kyiv.
Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump has touted Friday’s summit in Alaska as a chance to get a breakthrough but Zelensky’s likely absence from the talks and repeated rejection there can be any land swaps have added to doubts that any genuine diplomatic progress can be made.
The Ukrainian leader’s comments about an imminent Russian offensive add to such concerns.
What To Know
Zelensky said on Monday that Ukrainian intelligence has no evidence that Russian troops have received post-war preparation orders and in fact were planning offensive operations.
He said that Putin wants to present the meeting on Friday as his personal victory and then to continue applying the same pressure on Ukraine as before.
He said Russian troops are being redeployed in a way that suggests preparations for new offensive operations and that Kyiv was informing its allies about Putin’s battlefield plans.
On Monday, Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were infiltrating areas near northwest of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region near where Russian forces likely have made advances, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Beebe, director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute, told Newsweek that Ukraine will have to be involved in negotiations at some point—whether that’s Friday or later and that both sides must make concessions.
Trump’s role is helping the two sides find a way forward that they probably won’t be able to negotiate between themselves, said Beebe.
Russia will have to acknowledge Ukraine has a right to pursue EU membership while Kyiv and the West will have to concede it will not be a member of NATO, and that alliance members are not going to put military forces on Ukrainian territory, he said.
This can produce a framework that can set the stage for further negotiations for any ultimate peace settlement, Beebe added.
What People Are Saying
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “There is no indication whatsoever that the Russians have received signals to prepare for a post-war situation. On the contrary, they are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations. If someone is preparing for peace, this is not what he does.”
George Beebe, director of grand strategy at the Quincy Institute: “There’s reason to hope the Putin-Trump summit can help advance an end to the war in Ukraine…U.S. involvement in this is absolutely necessary.”
What Happens Next
Further diplomatic wrangling is expected before Friday when Putin might propose Kyiv withdraw troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for Moscow withdrawing its troops from Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts.
This scenario has been proposed by an unnamed source in Ukraine’s President’s Office, cited by the Kyiv Independent, who said it would be rejected by Ukraine.
However, details of what will be proposed on Friday remain no more than speculation at present.
The post Putin Preparing For New Offensive After Trump Meeting: Zelensky appeared first on Newsweek.
