In Alaska, Putin wants to take a picture with Trump and postpone sanctions – Kallas

During a meeting in Alaska on August 15, the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "wants to take a picture" with the US president Donald Trump and postpone sanctions, but the European Union hopes for concrete results after these talks. This was stated by the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas in an interview with Suspilne.

The official noted that the United States has the means to influence the Russian dictator, but they must be used wisely.

"Of course, we hope for this [the results after the meeting], because the US clearly has leverage over Russia. This is evident from the fact that Putin is now sitting down at the negotiating table, but it is clear what Putin wants. He wants to be able to take a picture with president Trump, the most powerful man on earth, and then he wants to postpone the threat of sanctions to pretend that he is negotiating so that there is no longer a threat," the European official said.

In her opinion, the meeting should result in an unconditional ceasefire so that real negotiations between Ukraine and Russia can begin.

Kallas also believes that Putin is not serious about the talks, otherwise the Ukrainian leader would have been present at the meeting in Alaska.

"President Zelenskyy should be part of the meeting, it is clear that Putin does not want him there. Why? Because he is not serious about any peace talks. If he were serious, he would want to talk to Zelenskyy directly, because the war is in Ukraine, between Russia and Ukraine. So in order to have any results or real negotiations, you need to negotiate with those who are concerned, namely Ukraine, with president Zelenskyy," the EU diplomat said.

She emphasized that the West should put pressure on Moscow to make concessions that it has not yet made, and noted that "all pressure should be directed at the aggressor, not the victim."

• Zelenskyy said that during the summit in Alaska, US president Trump and dictator Putin "will not decide anything about Ukraine without us".
• Erdoğan told Zelenskyy that Ankara is ready to organize a meeting between the heads of Ukraine, the US, Russia and Turkey.