In an interview with Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne, Kallas suggested the Russian leader is only interested in a photo op and lobbying Trump to ease U.S. sanctions against Moscow.
“Putin is sitting down at the negotiating table now, but it’s clear what he wants,” she said.
“He wants the opportunity to be photographed with President Trump, the most powerful person on Earth, and then he wants to delay the threat of sanctions so he can pretend he’s negotiating and make the threat go away.”
She said the principal outcome of the Alaska meeting should be an unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, paving the way for broad peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. Kallas added that Putin’s disinterest in serious dialogue is underscored by the absence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“If he were serious, he would want to speak directly with Zelenskyy, because the war is in Ukraine, between Russia and Ukraine,” Kallas added.
“To achieve any real results, you have to talk to those involved—namely Ukraine and President Zelenskyy.”
Kallas urged Western nations to put all pressure on the aggressor, not the victim.
On Aug. 8, Donald Trump announced a meeting with Putin in the U.S. state of Alaska on Aug. 15, calling it “a significant event in bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia.”
The U.S. president also said he will discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine with Putin, and that his settlement plan envisages a territorial swap in which Kyiv will regain part of its land but be forced to give up others. According to several media outlets, this means ceding Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts to Russia.
Politico reported that the White House proposed freezing the war along the contact line in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts in exchange for Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
On Aug. 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupiers and that the territorial issue is enshrined in Ukraine’s Constitution, which no one will violate.
He also said that Russia is pushing the idea of exchanging Ukrainian territory for other Ukrainian territory, which would only give the aggressor better positions to resume the war.