<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukrainian President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/volodymyr-zelenskyy" rel="" target="" title="Volodymyr Zelenskyy"><span>Volodymyr Zelenskyy</span></a><span> on Saturday dismissed the planned summit between </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> and Russian President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/vladimir-putin" rel="" target="" title="Vladimir Putin"><span>Vladimir Putin</span></a><span>, warning that any peace deal excluding Kyiv would lead to "dead solutions".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-says-hell-meet-vladimir-putin-in-alaska-next-week/aacb4401-3003-4930-97f0-e1290d7d8bd8" rel="" target="" title="Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for Friday in Alaska"><span>Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for Friday in Alaska</span></a><span>, is seen as a potential breakthrough in the more than </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/russia-ukraine" rel="" target="" title="three-year war"><span>three-year war</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump had previously agreed to meet with Putin even if the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/russia" rel="" target="" title="Russian"><span>Russian</span></a><span> leader would not meet with Zelenskyy, stoking fears </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/ukraine" rel="" target="" title="Ukraine"><span>Ukraine</span></a><span> could be sidelined in efforts to stop </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/europe" rel="" target="" title="Europe"><span>Europe</span></a><span>'s biggest conflict since World War II.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/apollo-13-tom-hanks-who-portrayed-jim-lovell-in-apollo-13-pays-tribute-to-the-late-astronaut-jim-lovell/32a4ad27-359c-4a73-b1ba-d5f70cb86970"><strong><span>Tom Hanks, who portrayed Jim Lovell in 'Apollo 13,' pays tribute to the late astronaut</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a statement posted to Telegram, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's territorial integrity, enshrined in the constitution, must be non-negotiable, and emphasised that lasting peace must include Ukraine's voice at the table.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In response to Trump's comments to reporters on Friday that any agreement would likely involve "some swapping of territories," Zelenskyy said Ukraine "will not give Russia any awards for what it has done" and that "Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Touching on Ukrainian anxieties that a direct meeting between Putin and Trump could marginalise Kyiv and European interests, Zelenskyy said: "Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-updates-volodymyr-zelenskyy-rejects-ceding-territory-to-kremlin-in-negotiations/50e7aed3-47a5-4498-aa7f-64ed67413385" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukrainian officials had previously told The Associated Press privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognise Ukraine's inability to regain lost territories militarily.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>The summit</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump said he will meet with Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It seems entirely logical for our delegation to fly across the Bering Strait simply, and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska," Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said on Saturday in a statement posted to the Kremlin's news channel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The summit may prove pivotal in a war that began when Russia invaded its western neighbour and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although there's no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In his comments to reporters at the White House on Friday, before his post confirming the date and place, Trump gave no further details on the "swapping of territories".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Analysts, including some close to the Kremlin, have suggested that Russia could offer to give up territory it controls outside of the four regions it claims to have annexed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump said his meeting with Putin would come before any sit-down discussion involving Zelenskyy. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His announcement that he planned to host one of America's adversaries on US soil broke with expectations that they'd meet in a third country. The gesture gives Putin validation after the US and its allies had long sought to make him a pariah over his war against Ukraine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nigel Gould-Davies, an associate fellow of Chatham House, told The Associated Press the "symbology" of holding the summit in Alaska was clear, and that the location "naturally favours Russia".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's easy to imagine Putin making the point. … We once had this territory and we gave it to you, therefore Ukraine had this territory and now should give it to us," he said, referring to the 1867 transaction known as the Alaska Purchase when Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Ultimatums and sanctions</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The deadline was Friday. But the White House did not answer questions that evening about the state of possible sanctions after Trump announced an upcoming meeting with Putin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gould-Davies likened attempts to understand what seems to be Trump's latest pivot toward Moscow to "Kremlinology" — the Cold War-era practice of deciphering opaque signals from Soviet leadership.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We're … looking for clues and for hints … about what the hell is going on; what the mix of influences around Trump and indeed in Trump's head is propelling his latest statement," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's as if his disillusionment with Putin … never happened," Gould-Davies noted, pointing to a sudden return to the more conciliatory Russia policy Trump embraced at the start of his presidency.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prior to Trump announcing the meeting with Putin, his efforts to pressure Russia into stopping the fighting had delivered no progress. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Kremlin's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Russia and Ukraine trade attacks</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two people died and 16 were wounded on Saturday when a Russian drone hit a minibus in the suburbs of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two others died after a Russian drone struck their car in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukraine's air force said on Saturday it intercepted 16 of the 47 Russian drones launched overnight, while 31 drones hit targets across 15 different locations. It also said it shot down one of the two missiles Russia deployed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 97 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the Black Sea overnight and 21 more on Saturday morning.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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