Zelensky warns on 'decisions without Ukraine' before US-Russia summit

KYIV, Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday warned that “decisions without Ukraine” would not bring peace and ruled out ceding territory to Russia.

“Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier,” he said on social media, as US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to hold a summit next week in Alaska to discuss peace in Ukraine.

“Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace. They will achieve nothing,” he said, adding that the war “cannot be ended without us, without Ukraine”.

Zelensky said Ukraine was “ready for real decisions that can bring peace” but said it should be a “dignified peace”, without giving details.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.

Three rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine this year have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit would bring peace any closer.

Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.

He has also ruled out holding talks with Zelensky at this stage, a meeting the Ukrainian president says is necessary to make headway on a deal.

Announcing the summit with Putin on Friday, Trump said that “there’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details.

The Alaska summit on August 15 would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.

Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump’s first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January.