1. Trump confirmed that the decision on any land-for-peace arrangements would be left to Kyiv.
2. He said the primary purpose of the call was to thank Lukashenko for releasing 16 prisoners and to urge the release of an additional 1,300.
3. The outreach to Belarus comes just hours before Trump is set to meet Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, in a summit that could shape the trajectory of the war in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Ukraine will have the authority to decide whether to engage in territorial swaps with Russia, signalling a hands-off approach to potential concessions in peace negotiations.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Anchorage, Alaska, for his high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump confirmed that the decision on any land-for-peace arrangements would be left to Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a social media post, urged Trump to press Moscow to end its invasion. “It is time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America,” Zelenskyy said ahead of the Alaska talks.
Trump also revealed he had spoken by phone with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin, and planned to meet him “in the future.” In a social media post, Trump said the conversation covered “many topics, including President Putin’s visit to Alaska.”
The US president said the primary purpose of the call was to thank Lukashenko for releasing 16 prisoners and to urge the release of an additional 1,300. The outreach to Belarus comes just hours before Trump is set to meet Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, in a summit that could shape the trajectory of the war in Ukraine.