Trump, Putin hold high-stakes Ukraine talks in Alaska

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/MOSCOW: Donald Trump said he wanted to see a ceasefire 'today' as he headed to Alaska on Friday for a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin to help end the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the talks and his European allies fear Trump might sell out Ukraine by essentially freezing the conflict and recognising — if only informally — Russian control over one fifth of Ukraine.
Trump sought to assuage such concerns as he boarded Air Force One, saying he would let Ukraine decide on any possible territorial swaps. 'I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine, I'm here to get them at a table', he said.
Asked what would make the meeting a success, he told reporters: 'I want to see a ceasefire rapidly... I'm not going to be happy if it's not today... I want the killing to stop'.
The US and Russian presidents are due to meet at a Cold War-era air force base in Alaska's largest city at around 11 am (19:00 GMT) for their first face-to-face talks since Trump returned to the White House.
Trump hopes a truce in the three-and-a-half-year-old war will bolster his credentials as a global peacemaker worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
For Putin, the summit is already a big win that he can portray as evidence that years of Western attempts to isolate Russia have unravelled and that Moscow is retaking its rightful place at the top table of international diplomacy.
Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev described the pre-summit mood as 'combative' and said the two leaders would discuss not only Ukraine but the full spectrum of bilateral relations, Russia's RIA news agency reported.
Trump said that if Friday's talks went well, quickly arranging a second, three-way summit with Zelensky would be even more important than his encounter with Putin. — Reuters