Following the announcement by former US President Donald Trump of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, August 15th, aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs released a statement. The statement welcomed the agreement for the meeting between the United States and Russia. It stated, “India welcomes the agreement on the meeting between the United States and the Russian Federation in Alaska on August 15th.” The statement further added, “This meeting promises to end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and open up possibilities for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on many occasions, ‘This is not an era of war.'” This meeting would be Putin’s first visit to America since 2015 when he met with former President Barack Obama. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump provided details about the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Great State of Alaska on August 15th. Separately, the Kremlin indicated that the two leaders would “focus on discussing options for a long-term peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis,” describing the process as “challenging” and stating that Moscow would be “actively and energetically” involved. Speaking at the White House during the signing of the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement, Trump mentioned that any agreement might involve a land swap. “We will take back some land, and we will exchange some land.” He told reporters, “Some areas will be exchanged in the interest of both countries, but we will talk about it later or tomorrow.” However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that they would not “give away their land to those who have occupied it.” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram message, “The answer to the territorial question of Ukraine is already in the Constitution of Ukraine.” Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held a three-hour meeting with Putin in Moscow. The US described the meeting as “extremely productive.” On Wednesday, Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports of Russian oil on India.
