The situation is becoming increasingly complicated for Ukraine as Kiev has to reach an agreement with the Kremlin to stop the war. It has become clear after the meeting between US President Donald John Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy at the White House on August 18, 2025 that the eastern European country would have to give up the lands occupied by Russia as part of a peace deal, although President Zelenskyy has rejected the US President’s suggestion that Ukraine should cede lands to Russia. Moreover, there would be no security guarantees at all as Russia might attack Ukraine in the future even if Kiev accepts Moscow’s conditions.

Reports suggest that the visiting Ukrainian President presented President Trump with a letter written by his wife Olena Zelenska to the US first lady, expressing gratitude for Melania Trump’s efforts to appeal to Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin to return 20,000 kidnapped Ukrainian children to their relatives. “Let me thank your wife. Because she sent a letter concerning our children, and my wife, the first lady of Ukraine, gave her the letter,” Zelenskyy stressed as he handed the letter to President Trump. Later, the US President held talks with European leaders to discuss the Ukraine ceasefire.

Political analysts believe that the Alaska Summit (between President Trump and President Putin) was a spectacular distraction as the US President held the inconsequential meeting with his Russian counterpart mainly to boost bilateral ties. That is probably why the Russian President described the meeting as a productive one. President Putin reportedly informed the US President that Ukraine should accept his conditions to stop the war.

On August 15, the US President told the media that the Russian President would agree to ending the war on the condition that he obtain the entire eastern region of Donbas, comprised of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, including zones of each still controlled by Kiev. Three days later, President Trump advised the Ukrainian President to cede the eastern region of his country to Russia, including areas still under the control of Ukraine. However, President Zelenskyy took a cautious stance, as he had no plan to alienate the US President.

Some Western media outlets have claimed that President Trump did not raise the issue of ceasefire during the Alaska Summit! Later, he put the onus on President Zelenskyy to end the armed conflict with Russia, stating that the Ukrainian President could “end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight”. During his meeting with the Ukrainian President at the White House on August 18 (2025), President Trump pushed for a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting, saying that he would arrange talks between the two leaders.

Read: Four key takeaways from Zelenskyy-Trump talks in Washington DC

It may be noted that Russia launched drone attacks on four Ukrainian cities, killing at least 12 people, ahead of the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting in Washington DC on August 18. An entire family, including a toddler and a 16-year-old, were among seven people killed in the overnight drone strike on a residential neighbourhood in the northeastern city of Kharkiv. The attack also injured 20 people, including six children. Later, President Zelenskyy wrote on X: “Putin will commit demonstrative killings to maintain pressure on Ukraine and Europe, as well as to humiliate diplomatic efforts.”

Meanwhile, the European leaders have hinted that they, too, are not expecting much from President Trump as far as the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire is concerned.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das