US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 28, 2025.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Sidelined from forthcoming talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump to negotiate an end to the war, Ukraine has warned the world that Moscow is not to be trusted and is planning new offensives.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said intelligence and military officials had briefed him on Monday “on what Putin is counting on and what he is actually preparing for,” saying “this includes military preparations.”
“He is certainly not preparing to cease fire or end the war,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
“There is not a single sign that the Russians have been told to prepare for a post-war situation – not yet. On the contrary, they are moving their troops and forces in ways that indicate they plan to launch new offensive operations. No one preparing for peace acts this way,” he added.
“Putin’s sole aim is to present a meeting with America as his personal victory and then continue acting as before, putting pressure on Ukraine as before,” the president warned. CNBC has contacted the Kremlin for a response to Zelenskyy’s claims and is awaiting a response.
The problem for Ukraine is whether anyone is listening.
Neither Zelenskyy nor European officials are invited to the Trump-Putin talks in Alaska on Friday, much to their consternation.
Ukraine has vehemently stated that no deal about its future can be struck in its absence, amid fears that it could be forced to cede Russian-occupied territory to Moscow as part of a peace deal. European leaders, meanwhile, are pushing strongly for Ukraine’s involvement in the talks. The U.S., for its part, has said it is considering inviting Zelenskyy, NBC News reported.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz invited Trump to join Zelenskyy and European leaders when they hold an emergency call on Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of Friday’s talks. The virtual summit will reportedly focus on ways to pressure Russia, the fate of Ukrainian territories seized by Russia and possible security guarantees for Kyiv.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, told CNBC Tuesday that Putin was “just pretending to negotiate” and was trying to circumvent Trump’s threat of further sanctions if a ceasefire is not agreed.
“In order to have any deal implemented, you need Europe and you need Ukraine. So it is clear that Putin is just pretending to negotiate. Otherwise it would have Ukraine around that table. He just wants to postpone the sanctions, and that’s why he’s playing this game,” Kallas told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
Claiming that Putin “just wants to have a picture with President Trump,” Kallas said Russia had shown little appetite for peace.
“It is clear that Putin just wants some concessions, and they haven’t done any concessions on their side before [talking about ceding] territories, we should talk about ceasefire … Ukraine agreed to an unconditional ceasefire already five months ago, and since then, Putin and the Kremlin have just been playing games. So we should really put the pressure on Russia,” she said.
‘Feel-out’ meeting
Trump suggested on Monday that there could “some swapping” of territory as part of a peace deal though he insisted the U.S. “would try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine.”
“There’ll be some swapping, there’ll be some changes in land,” Trump told reporters at the White House, although he downplayed any expectations of what could come of the talks, describing them as a “feel-out meeting.”
“We’re going to see what he has in mind and if it’s a fair deal, I’ll reveal it to the European Union leaders and to NATO leaders and also to President Zelensky,” Trump said.
Geopolitical analysts agree that the talks are unlikely to yield a comprehensive and long-lasting solution to the more-than-three year conflict between Russia and Ukraine, given the complexity of the war, its underlying causes and the number of stakeholders involved.
Instead, the talks “should be seen as the Trump administration’s attempt to assess whether there is space for a mutually acceptable compromise — at least on select issues,” Andrius Tursa, Central and Eastern Europe advisor at risk consultancy Teneo, said in emailed comments Monday.
“Even in a best-case scenario, any high-level agreement would require multiple rounds of difficult follow-up talks to resolve implementation issues. This would be another option for Moscow to draw out the talks, hoping to capitalize on its gradually increasing advantage on the frontlines,” he noted.
The Kremlin may seek to exploit growing exhaustion in Ukraine by proposing a temporary or partial de-escalation in the war, Tursa said.
“Such a move would offer the Trump administration a symbolic diplomatic success while placing pressure on Kyiv to make substantial concessions. Should Ukraine fail to respond in a way deemed acceptable by Moscow, the Kremlin would likely portray Kyiv as the main obstacle to peace and count on Washington to increase pressure on Zelenskyy.”
Tursa said this latter scenario underscores the risks inherent in any potential Trump-Putin agreement that’s reached without the direct involvement of Ukraine and its European allies.
“Despite Ukraine’s reliance on U.S. support, neither Zelensky nor Ukraine’s parliament could be expected to endorse an agreement perceived as unfavorable and lacking public backing. Zelensky’s administration has already publicly rejected the idea of territorial concessions floated ahead of the summit, clearly signaling Kyiv’s red lines.”