PUBLISHED on August 11, 2025, 3:16 PM EDT – Key Points and Summary – President Donald Trump stated Monday that he will try to “get some of that territory back for Ukraine” during his upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
-The comment appears to shift his position away from a simple land-for-peace deal, adding a new layer of complexity to the high-stakes summit.
-Trump described the meeting as a “feel-out” and said he would call Ukrainian President Zelenskyy afterward to determine the next steps.
-While the final details of the summit are still being arranged, the announcement has been welcomed by Alaska’s governor.
Trump’s New Plan: Land for Ukraine?
When Donald Trump announced that he would soon meet with Vladimir Putin, and that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy would not be, it led many to conclude that Trump would make concessions to Putin in the name of ending the war, or possibly present Ukraine with a “take it or leave it” offer that involved concessions.
On Monday, Trump indicated that he will attempt to get land back for Ukraine from Russia.
“Russia’s occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We’re going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine,” Trump said to the press Monday, per the BBC.
He went on to characterize the upcoming meeting with Putin as a “feel-out meeting,” with a possible eye towards some “land-swapping,” in Trump’s phrase.
The First Call
Trump also said that he will speak to Zelenskyy first after the meeting with Putin.
“I’ll call him first… I’ll call him after, and I may say, ‘lots of luck, keep fighting,’ or I may say, ‘we can make a deal’,” Trump said.
“I think it’ll be good,” Trump told reporters Monday. “But it might be bad… I may leave and say, ‘good luck,’ and that’ll be the end. I may say this is not going to be settled.”
Trump also said that his goal is ultimately to get Putin and Zelenskyy into the same room
“I’m not going to make a deal,” Trump said, per CNN. “It’s not up to me to make a deal. I think a deal should be made for both.”
Trump also mistakenly said that “I’m going to Russia on Friday,” as Alaska hasn’t been part of Russia since 1867.
What About the Ukraine Meeting?
With the meeting in Alaska just four days away, many details have not been nailed down about it, including the exact location where it will take place, CNN said.
The New York Times wrote about how the summit might be received in Alaska.
“President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may arrive to a somewhat chilly reception in Alaska next week, as the state that has long made efforts to deepen and even celebrate its ties to the country has soured on its neighbor across the Bering Sea,” the Times wrote, while reporting from Fairbanks.
“Alaska boosters have been pushing for Alaska as an international gateway for basically since statehood,” David Ramseur, an aide to two former Alaskan governors and author of a book called “Melting the Ice Curtain: The Extraordinary Story of Citizen Diplomacy on the Russia-Alaska Frontier,” told the Times.
“So in that sense, it’s good for Alaska. Puts us on the map for a couple of hours.”
“Russian culture and Russian history is sort of baked into Alaska,” Brandon Boylan, a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, told the newspaper. “There’s a lot of remnants of the Russian American legacy.”
A Welcome From the Governor
The current Alaska governor, Mike Dunleavy, praised the announcement of the international summit.
“I welcome the upcoming meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Russia’s President Putin being held here in the great state of Alaska,” the governor, a Republican, wrote this week on X.
“Alaska is the most strategic location in the world, sitting at the crossroads of North America and Asia, with the Arctic to our north and the Pacific to our south. With a mere two miles separating Russia from Alaska, no other place plays a more vital role in our national defense, energy security, and Arctic leadership. What happens in the Arctic and the Pacific impacts Alaska before the rest of the country.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
Defense Watch
F/A-XX Is the YF-23 on a Carrier?
Swamplaw Yankee
August 12, 2025 at 5:12 am
The Prime Point: the first point that must be completed in full, first and foremost: we got that?
That the MAGA POTUS demands that Putin’s regime make a pre-payment of $10,000,000 in US gold bullion to each and every Ukrainian victim as compensation and reparation immediately, NOW.
That is, before any sell out code words, like peace or cease fire are blathered about.
So do we have it straight? $10,000,000 in US gold bullion pre-paid by the Putin regime for the 11 years of mass abducted little children for Putin’s computer listed sex trade operation. That gold deposit must be done for at least the first 30,000 abducted children. After that deposit is received the WEST can determine if the Putin of 2025 is semi honourable or if Putin just gets 11 years of mass cultural genocide of Ukrainian kids with no criminal charges and as a free “personal” cuddle gift form the POTUS to the perpetrators of cultural genocide. -30-