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Agence France-Presse

<p>WASHINGTON — Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord — a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough.</p><p>Prior to the high-stakes meeting in Alaska, securing an immediate cessation of hostilities had been a core demand of Trump — who had threatened &quot;severe consequences&quot; on Russia — and European leaders, including Ukraine&#x27;s Volodymyr Zelensky, who will now visit Washington on Monday.</p><p>The shift away from ceasefire would seem to favor Putin, who has long argued for negotiations on a final peace deal — a strategy that Ukraine and its European allies have criticized as a way to buy time and press Russia&#x27;s battlefield advances.</p><p>Trump spoke with Zelensky and European leaders on his flight back to Washington, saying afterward that &quot;it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement which would end the war.&quot;</p><p>Ceasefire agreements &quot;often times do not hold up,&quot; Trump added on his Truth Social platform.</p><p>This new development &quot;complicates the situation,&quot; Zelensky said Saturday.</p><p>If Moscow lacks &quot;the will to carry out a simple order to stop the strikes, it may take a lot of effort to get Russia to have the will to implement far greater — peaceful coexistence with its neighbors for decades,&quot; he said on social media.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/8/16/trump-says-had-very-productive-meeting-with-putin-0818"><strong>Trump and Putin end summit without Ukraine deal<br/></strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;HARSH REALITY&#x27;</strong></div><p>In the call, Trump expressed support for a proposal by Putin to take full control of two largely Russian-held Ukrainian regions in exchange for freezing the frontline in two others, an official briefed on the talks told AFP.</p><p>Putin &quot;de facto demands that Ukraine leave Donbas,&quot; an area consisting of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, the source said.</p><p>In exchange, Russian forces would halt their offensive in the Black Sea port region of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, where the main cities are still under Ukrainian control.</p><p>Several months into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia in September 2022 claimed to have annexed all four Ukrainian regions even though its troops still do not fully control any of them.</p><p>&quot;The Ukrainian president refused to leave Donbas,&quot; the source said.</p><p>Trump notably also said the United States was prepared to provide Ukraine security guarantees, an assurance German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hailed as &quot;significant progress.&quot;</p><p>But there was a scathing assessment of the summit outcome from the European Union&#x27;s top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who accused Putin of seeking to &quot;drag out negotiations&quot; with no commitment to end the bloodshed.</p><p>&quot;The harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war any time soon,&quot; Kallas said.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>ZELENSKY BACK IN WHITE HOUSE</strong></div><p>The main diplomatic focus now switches to Zelensky&#x27;s talks at the White House on Monday.</p><p>An EU source told AFP that a number of European leaders had also been invited to attend.</p><p>The Ukrainian president&#x27;s last Oval Office visit in February ended in an extraordinary shouting match, with Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berating Zelensky for not showing enough gratitude for US aid.</p><p>Zelensky said Saturday after a &quot;substantive&quot; conversation with Trump about the Alaska summit that he looked forward to his Washington visit and discussing &quot;all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war.&quot;</p><p>In an interview with broadcaster Fox News after his sit-down with Putin, Trump had suggested that the onus was now on Zelensky to secure a peace deal as they work towards an eventual trilateral summit with Putin.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s really up to President Zelensky to get it done,&quot; Trump said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/8/14/trump-floats-meeting-with-putin-and-zelenskiy-1045"><strong>Trump floats meeting with Putin and Zelenskiy</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>EUROPEAN PRESSURE</strong></div><p>The leaders of France, Britain and Germany are due to host a video call Sunday for their so-called &quot;coalition of the willing&quot; to discuss the way forward.</p><p>In an earlier statement, they welcomed the plan for a Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit but added that they would maintain pressure on Russia in the absence of a ceasefire.</p><p>Meanwhile, the conflict in Ukraine raged on, with Kyiv announcing Saturday that Russia had launched 85 attack drones and a ballistic missile during the night.</p><p>Back in Moscow, Putin said his summit talks with Trump had been &quot;timely&quot; and &quot;very useful.&quot;</p><p>In his post-summit statement in Alaska, Putin had warned Ukraine and European countries not to engage in any &quot;behind-the-scenes intrigues&quot; that could disrupt what he called &quot;this emerging progress.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord — a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough.</p>

Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord — a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough.

Trump drops Ukraine ceasefire demand after Putin summit

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Trump drops Ukraine ceasefire demand after Putin summit

Agence France-Presse

Published Aug 17, 2025 09:50 AM PHT

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