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 warned that the Russians risk facing “very severe consequences” if they continue to bomb Ukraine and kill innocent civilians.
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 agreement would involve granting Moscow access to Alaska’s natural resources and easing certain US sanctions on Russia’s aviation sector, as reported by The Telegraph.
Proposals also include giving Putin access to the rare earth minerals in the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russia.
Trump seems to be capitalizing on Russia’s weakened economy, which has suffered significantly due to international sanctions imposed after its unlawful invasion of Ukraine.
It comes as Moscow and Washington are reportedly considering a West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine to secure a truce.
According to The Times, preliminary plans would allow Russia to maintain military and economic influence over occupied regions of Ukraine through a specially appointed governing body.
Ukraine’s official borders wouldn’t budge, but the Kremlin would pull the strings in the regions it has swiped.
Witkoff is reportedly in favor of the proposal, which the US sees as a potential workaround to Ukraine’s law prohibiting territorial concessions without a nationwide referendum.
Trump yesterday warned there would be “very severe consequences” if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire.
He expressed his views following a video conference 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.
Meanwhile, Russia seems to be gearing up to test its latest nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile, as reported by US researchers and a Western security informant.
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.
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.
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.
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.
