Trump Issues Warning to Putin Ahead of Summit

President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that there will be "very severe consequences" if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to agree to end the war in Ukraine following Friday's U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump was "very clear" during a virtual meeting with European leaders that the United States aims to secure a ceasefire at the summit.

In the same meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told participants he believes Putin "is bluffing" ahead of his talks with Trump. Zelensky accused Putin of "trying to apply pressure on all sectors of the Ukrainian front" to project that Russia is "capable of occupying all of Ukraine."

Zelensky also dismissed Putin's public posture on sanctions, saying the Russian leader acts "as if they do not matter to him and are ineffective," but in reality, sanctions are "very helpful and are hitting Russia's war economy hard."

The summit will take place at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, a Cold War-era facility that still plays a key role in intercepting Russian aircraft near U.S. airspace.

The meeting comes as Russian forces push toward Pokrovsk in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, an advance analysts warn could disrupt Ukrainian supply lines. Zelensky said Putin has proposed that Kyiv withdraw from remaining parts of Donetsk as part of a ceasefire deal—an offer he flatly rejected as unconstitutional.

Trump has described the upcoming Alaska meeting as "a feel-out" to gauge whether Putin is serious about ending a war now in its fourth year.

Speaking in Washington after announcing this year's Kennedy Center Honors recipients, Trump declined to outline what consequences might follow. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who convened the call, expressed hope that the meeting would result in an agreement.

"President Trump also wants to make this one of his priorities in Friday's meeting with President Putin, and I hope there is a corresponding agreement," Macron said.

Merz added that "important decisions" could be made in Anchorage but stressed that "fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected." If Russia does not move toward peace, he said, "the United States and the Europeans should and must increase the pressure" on Moscow.

While some European officials are optimistic about tangible progress, others worry that the U.S. president may be more focused on broader geopolitical aims—such as strengthening business ties with Russia and restoring Putin's international standing—than on resolving the conflict itself.

What People Are Saying

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday: "I'm not going to get ahead of the president, but the president is the best at creating leverage for himself, and he will make it clear to President Putin that all options are on the table."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram: "Putin is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war. He is determined only to present a meeting with America as his personal victory and then continue acting exactly as before, applying the same pressure on Ukraine."

Friday's summit will be the first in-person meeting between Trump and Putin since Trump's return to office in January. Whether it produces a breakthrough or deepens divisions among Ukraine's allies could shape the next phase of Europe's largest conflict since World War II.