{"id":342020,"date":"2025-08-13T20:14:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/342020\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T20:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T20:14:13","slug":"trump-warns-of-severe-consequences-if-putin-does-not-stop-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/342020\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump warns of ‘severe consequences’ if Putin does not stop war"},"content":{"rendered":"

BERLIN (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> warned Wednesday that there will be \u201cvery severe consequences\u201d if Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine<\/a> after the two leaders meet for a summit<\/a> later this week in Alaska.<\/p>\n

Trump made the comment in response to a question from a reporter after announcing this year\u2019s Kennedy Center Honors recipients<\/a> in Washington. He did not say what the consequences might be.<\/p>\n

The remark came soon after Trump consulted with European leaders, who said the president assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine<\/a> when he speaks with Putin on Friday in Anchorage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Ukrainian<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attend a video meeting of European leaders with US President Donald Trump on the Ukraine war in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, ahead of the summit between the US and Russian leaders. (John MacDougall\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attend a video meeting of European leaders with US President Donald Trump on the Ukraine war in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, ahead of the summit between the US and Russian leaders. (John MacDougall\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> joined several of Kyiv\u2019s main allies in the virtual meeting with the U.S. leader, and Zelenskyy told the group that Putin \u201cis bluffing\u201d ahead of the planned summit about Russia\u2019s ability to occupy all of Ukraine and shake off sanctions.<\/p>\n

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz<\/a> said afterward that \u201cimportant decisions\u201d could be made in Alaska, but he stressed that \u201cfundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merz convened Wednesday\u2019s meeting in an attempt to make sure European and Ukrainian leaders are heard ahead of the summit.<\/p>\n

He stressed that a ceasefire must come at the beginning of negotiations. He told reporters that Trump \u201calso wants to make this one of his priorities\u201d in the meeting with Putin.<\/p>\n

At a separate appearance in France, French President Emmanuel Macron<\/a> said Trump \u201cwas very clear\u201d that the U.S. wants to achieve a ceasefire at the summit.<\/p>\n

Following Friday\u2019s summit, Macron added, Trump will \u201cseek a future trilateral meeting\u201d \u2014 one involving Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy. He said he hoped that it could be held in Europe \u201cin a neutral country that is acceptable to all parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"French<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a statement following a video conference on Ukraine at the Fort de Bregancon in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, Wednesday Aug.13, 2025. (Philippe Magoni, Pool via AP)<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a statement following a video conference on Ukraine at the Fort de Bregancon in Bormes-les-Mimosas, southern France, Wednesday Aug.13, 2025. (Philippe Magoni, Pool via AP)<\/p>\n

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Merz, who described Wednesday\u2019s conversation as \u201cconstructive and good,\u201d said the Europeans made clear that \u201cUkraine must sit at the table as soon as there are follow-up meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n

European allies have pushed for Ukraine\u2019s involvement<\/a> in any peace talks, fearful that discussions that exclude Kyiv could otherwise favor Moscow.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian president, who traveled to Berlin to join the meeting alongside Merz, has repeatedly cast doubt on whether Putin would negotiate in good faith. He said Wednesday that he hoped an immediate ceasefire will be \u201cthe central topic\u201d in Alaska, but also argued that Putin \u201cdefinitely does not want peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said Putin \u201cis trying to apply pressure … on all sectors of the Ukrainian front\u201d in an attempt to show that Russia is \u201ccapable of occupying all of Ukraine.\u201d Putin is also bluffing that sanctions \u201cdo not matter to him and are ineffective,\u201d he added. \u201cIn reality, sanctions are very helpful and are hitting Russia\u2019s war economy hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Britain's<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-chairs a videoconference call with European leaders on Ukraine, in London, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Jack Taylor\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Prime Minister Keir Starmer co-chairs a videoconference call with European leaders on Ukraine, in London, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (Jack Taylor\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

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The stakes for Europe<\/p>\n

Trump has said he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year, describing Friday\u2019s summit as \u201ca feel-out meeting\u201d where he can assess the Russian leader\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n

Yet Trump has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He has also said Russia must accept land swaps<\/a>, although it was unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.<\/p>\n

Trump on Monday ducked repeated chances to say that he would push for Zelenskyy to take part in his discussions with Putin, and the president was dismissive of Zelenskyy and his need to be part of an effort to seek peace. Trump said that following Friday\u2019s summit, a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders could be arranged, or that it could also be a meeting with \u201cPutin and Zelenskyy and me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia\u2019s energy might<\/a> to try to intimidate the European Union, might secure favorable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.<\/p>\n

The overarching fear of many European countries is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Merz said that \u201cif there is no movement on the Russian side in Alaska, then the United States and the Europeans should and must increase the pressure\u201d on Moscow.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A soldier of Ukraine\u2019s 30th Mechanized Brigade prepares to fire a howitzer towards Russian positions on the front line near near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/Andrii Marienko)<\/p>\n

A soldier of Ukraine\u2019s 30th Mechanized Brigade prepares to fire a howitzer towards Russian positions on the front line near near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/Andrii Marienko)<\/p>\n

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Land concessions a non-starter for Kyiv<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Putin<\/a> wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that it still controls as part of a ceasefire deal<\/a>, a proposal the Ukrainian leader categorically rejected.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy<\/a> reiterated that Ukraine would not give up any territory it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional<\/a> and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.<\/p>\n

He said diplomatic discussions led by the U.S.<\/a> focused on ending the war have not addressed key Ukrainian demands, including security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression and ensuring that Europe is included in negotiations.<\/p>\n

Three weeks after Trump returned to office, his administration took the leverage of Ukraine\u2019s NATO membership off the table<\/a> \u2014 something Putin has demanded \u2014 and signaled that the EU and Ukraine must handle security in Europe now while America focuses its attention elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Senior EU officials believe Trump may be satisfied with simply securing a ceasefire in Ukraine and that he is probably more interested in broader U.S. interests and great power politics, aiming to ramp up business with Russia and rehabilitate Putin.<\/p>\n

Russian advances in Donbas<\/p>\n

Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine have been closing in on a key territorial grab around the city of Pokrovsk<\/a>, in the eastern Donbas region that comprises Ukraine\u2019s eastern industrial heartland, which Putin has long coveted.<\/p>\n

Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles have said Ukraine\u2019s ability to fend off those advances could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important victory ahead of the summit and could complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Annie Ma in Washington, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP\u2019s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/russia-ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERLIN (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that there will be \u201cvery severe consequences\u201d if Russian President…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7654],"tags":[6305,32,34,2000,299,1699,1945,4179,8614,285,332,7661,657,7662,333,2601,7660,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-342020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ukraine","8":"tag-alaska","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-emmanuel-macron","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-friedrich-merz","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-international-agreements","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-russia","19":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","20":"tag-ukraine","21":"tag-ukraine-government","22":"tag-vladimir-putin","23":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","24":"tag-war-and-unrest","25":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115023293125318466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}