Trump says he will try to get back territory for Ukraine in summit with Putin

Washington, Aug 12 (IANS) US President Donald Trump said that he will try to get some territory back for Ukraine during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

Speaking at a White House press conference on Monday Trump said, "Russia's occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We're going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine."

The US President also mentioned that his upcoming meeting with Putin in Alaska will be a "feel-out meeting."

Trump said a future meeting could also involve Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, or include both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

A White House official told reporters on Saturday that Trump remained open to a summit with both leaders.

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Sunday it was still possible that Zelensky could attend Friday's meeting in Alaska.

"The decision is going to be made by President Trump," Whitaker said. "There's still time to make that decision."

He and the Russian president are due to hold talks in Alaska at the end of the week. Trump claimed that he could know within two minutes of meeting Putin whether progress was possible.

Trump announced the meeting with Putin last Friday - the day of his self-imposed deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire or face more US sanctions.

In response to news of the Alaska summit, Zelensky said any agreements without input from Kyiv would amount to "dead decisions".

--IANS

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