By Emel Akan
Contributing Writer
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that there will be “very severe consequences” if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to end the war in Ukraine after their summit in Alaska on Friday.
“There will be,” he said when asked whether Putin would face consequences if he refused to end the war in Ukraine after the Alaska summit that will take place on Friday.
When asked about the nature of consequences, Trump declined to comment.
“I don’t have to say,” Trump responded. “There will be very severe consequences.”
Trump also said he wanted a second meeting with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy soon after the Alaska summit.
The president said the first meeting with Putin will set the stage for a follow-up meeting.
If it goes well, he said, a second meeting including Zelenskyy could happen quickly.
“If the first one goes OK, we’ll have a quick second one. I would like to do it almost immediately,” he said.
Trump made the comments while visiting the Kennedy Center on Wednesday.
His comments came after he and Vice President JD Vance joined a virtual call on Wednesday morning with Zelenskyy to discuss the upcoming Alaska summit.
The meeting, hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, also included leaders from several other European Union and NATO countries.
Trump described the virtual call as “very good.”
“We had a very good call. He was on the call. President Zelenskyy was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly,” he said.
Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet face to face on Friday in Alaska to hold talks on ending the more than three-year war in Ukraine.
“We really hope that a cease-fire, an immediate cease-fire, will be one main issue during this meeting. President Trump has been talking about it,” Zelenskyy said during a press conference after the virtual meeting with Trump.
“He will tell me about all the results, if there are any results, and then we will discuss our steps together.”
Zelenskyy also said he told the president that Putin was “bluffing” when claiming that sanctions were not hurting the Kremlin.
“Russia is pretending they can occupy the entire Ukraine, but this is not true. Also, he’s saying that sanctions are not important and they are not working, but I am sure that sanctions are effective; they are harmful for the Russian economy,” he said.
Speaking alongside the Ukrainian leader at the press conference, Merz wished Trump success in his meeting with Putin and said they planned to speak with the U.S. president after the summit.
When asked whether he could convince Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine, Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center, “I guess the answer to that is no, because I’ve had this conversation.”
“I want to end the war,” Trump said. “I’ll be very proud to end this war along with the five other wars I ended.”
Chris Summers contributed to this report.
