DONALD Trump is reportedly planning to make a bombshell offer to Vladimir Putin to crack a ceasefire deal and end the bloody war in Ukraine.
But the US prez has warned that the Russians risk facing “very severe consequences” if they continue to bomb Ukraine and kill innocent civilians.
ReutersTrump is reportedly planning to make a bombshell offer to Vladimir Putin to crack a ceasefire deal[/caption]
ReutersAn explosion of a drone lights up the sky over the city during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv[/caption]
Don, who hails himself as a great dealmaker, is said to be planning to present a money-making deal to lure sanctions-hit Putin into peace-making.
The deal will include opening up Alaska’s natural resources to Moscow and lifting some of the American sanctions on Russia’s aviation industry, The Telegraph revealed.
Proposals also include giving Putin access to the rare earth minerals in the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia.
Trump is seemingly betting on Russia’s current economy, which has been hit hard by global sanctions since he launched his illegal invasion of Ukraine.
It comes as Moscow and Washington are reportedly considering a West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine to secure a truce.
Under the sketched plans, Russia would have military and economic control of the occupied parts of Ukraine through a dedicated governing body, reports The Times.
Ukraine’s official borders wouldn’t budge, but the Kremlin would pull the strings in the regions it has swiped.
Witkoff apparently supported the plan, which the Americans believe offers a solution to the Ukrainian law which bans giving up land without a national referendum.
Trump yesterday warned there would be “very severe consequences” if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.
Yesterday, he spoke out after a video call with European leaders, including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Zelensky said on August 12 that Putin may deploy thousands more troops to continue attacking Ukraine and grab more land.
Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy chief of Ukrainian intelligence (GUR), said that Russia plans to continue its onslaught
He said that Russia is ramping up long-range drone production to carry out future strikes deep inside Ukraine
Europe’s political chiefs also vowed to hit tyrant Putin with more sanctions if talks fail.
It all comes as Russia appears to be preparing to test its new nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered cruise missile, according to US researchers and a Western security source.
Satellite imagery shows an increase in personnel, military equipment, ships, as well as aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik.
Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organisation carried out the research.
They said that new satellite images show extensive preparations at the Pankovo test site on Novaya Zemlya, a remote archipelago in the Barents Sea.
A Western security source confirmed that Russia is preparing a Burevestnik test.
Experts say the test could happen as soon as this week, which could overshadow the scheduled meeting between Trump and Putin.
Though they believe the test would have been scheduled long before the summit was announced.
ReutersA satellite view shows equipment at the Pankovo test site in Yuzhny Island, on the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, Russia[/caption]
ReutersSatellite imagery shows an increase in personnel, military equipment, ships, as well as aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik[/caption]
Sir Keir Starmer today welcomed Zelensky to Downing Street as Europe braces for Trump’s face-to-face discussions with Putin.
The meeting comes aftr Sir Keir said Britain stands ready to “increase pressure” on Russia if necessary.
Yesterday, European leaders and Zelensky had a “constructive” chat with Trump, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Zelensky said he pushed again for a meeting between all three leaders of Ukraine, Russia and the US after he was snubbed from Trump and Putin’s head-to-head on Friday.
He said he hopes a ceasefire will be the main topic of discussion in Alaska – and Merz reassured that it would be.
The Ukrainian leader also slipped Trump a warning about his cunning Russian counterpart – and confirmed he would receive a call from the President after he bids Putin farewell.
Shutterstock EditorialKeir Starmer and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky today[/caption]
AFPStarmer talks with Zelensky in the garden of 10 Downing Street[/caption]
PAEU leaders together during a summit[/caption]
Drawing lines
Top diplomats from the US and Russia are currently working on an agreement to finalise post-war territories – but it may not be all good news for Kyiv.
Putin, who has consistently rejected calls for a ceasefire, said that he wants peace but that his demands for ending his invasion were “unchanged”.
One major sticking point for Moscow is the annexation of more Ukrainian territory – one of Putin’s long-term demands.
These are some of the possible outcomes of a Ukraine ceasefire deal.
What Europe wants
Zelensky and European leaders are likely to reject any settlement proposals by the US that demand Ukraine give up further land.
They want to freeze the current frontline as it is – giving away the territory already being held by the Russians.
Zelensky has reiterated that Ukraine will not cede any further territory to Russia.
Putins price
Luhansk and Donetsk collectively make up the region of Donbas
Zelensky said that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30 per cent of the Donetsk region that it controls as part of a ceasefire deal.
That’s almost 3,500 square miles of land still under Kyiv’s control.
And losing it will hand Putin almost the entirety of the Donbas – a region comprising Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.
Kyiv cedes
When the war began in 2022, Putin signed declarations annexing the entirety of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.
His troops never controlled Zaporizhzhia and were pushed out of Kherson by the Ukrainians in a daring counteroffensive.
Slave to one’s habits, Putin may demand further territorial concessions from Ukraine and grab more land that it already occupies.
Don’s proposal
Trump said that the only way to resolve the issues is for both sides to accept losses of land.
But he added that he would try to return the territory to Ukraine.
The Trump administration has said that it will not engage in any agreement on a final peace deal without Ukraine’s formal involvement in the negotiations.
After Trump held a call with the European leaders yesterday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed that Trump reaffirmed that Trump would not negotiate territorial issues with Putin.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron will not be engaging in any “schemes for territory swaps” during the summit.
On the offensive
Russian forces launched a last-minute ground attack to grab as much Ukrainian territory as possible ahead of the peace talks with Donald Trump.
The lightning speed offensive saw Russian troops breaching through defence lines in eastern Ukraine in a dramatic two-pronged attack.
And it could give Putin an upper hand when he meets the US President for the historic peace summit on Friday.
But in the last few days, Russian sabotage and reconnaissance units pushed some six to 15 miles deep into Ukrainian territory near the town of Dobropillia in Donetsk.
The catastrophic breakthrough is set to help Moscow, which currently controls over 70 per cent of the highly-contested Donetsk region.
The catastrophic breakthrough is set to help Moscow, which currently controls over 70 per cent of the highly-contested Donetsk region.
ReutersRussian soldier raising a flag, reportedly following the capture of Yablunivka in Ukraine on August 12[/caption]
Russian forces surged towards three villages on a section of the frontline near Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported.
The location of the land grab near Dobropillia is of immense strategic importance to both Moscow and Kyiv.
If the Russian forces can defend the captured land and establish a secure foothold, they would be able to cut the city of Kramatorsk off from the Donbas region.
Kramatorsk is the most important fortress city in Donbas that is still under Kyiv’s control.
And if it falls, it will hand Putin almost the entirety of the Donbas – a region comprising Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.
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