Trump believes land swaps are necessary part of peace deal - Axios
According to Axios, US President Donald Trump, in consultations with European leaders on Wednesday, said that the issue of control over the territories should be resolved by Zelenskyy and Putin. But he expressed his belief that the exchange of territories would be necessary as part of a peace agreement.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Interfax-Ukraine.
"Trump said that it is Volodymyr and Vladimir who should discuss the territories with each other, not him," the source said.
Trump reportedly proposed freezing most of the frontline, with additional "land swaps". But potentially, this would only mean de facto control over the territories without international recognition.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Trump "largely agreed" during the conversation that Russia cannot be granted legal recognition of the territories it occupied during the war.
Trump told Zelenskyy and European leaders that his goals at Friday's summit with Putin were to achieve a ceasefire and to better understand whether a full-fledged peace deal was possible, two sources with knowledge of the conversation told Axios. At the same time, according to them, Trump downplayed the likelihood of significant breakthroughs in the peace settlement as a result of the meeting in Alaska. The newspaper noted that these consultations were the last chance for Zelenskyy and key European leaders to shape Trump's thinking before the meeting.
An Axios source who was at the call said that French President Emmanuel Macron took a "very tough" stance and told Trump that "the meeting is a very important thing for Putin". Merz and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte were "very active" and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni "raised some good issues". Polish President Karol Nawrocki "reminded Trump of the Battle of Warsaw exactly 105 years ago, when Poland fought alongside Ukrainians against the Bolsheviks in Russia," the source said.
Trump told the leaders during the call that he would provide them with an update after his meeting with Putin.
