Ahead of Putin meeting, Trump says incentives do not equal reward in seeking Ukraine peace
Trump also dodges questions about what carrots he might dangle, such as access to American rare earth resources or Nato troop reductions
“No, I don’t think it’s a reward. I think that what we have is a situation that should never have started,” Trump told reporters, when asked whether incentives for peace could end up rewarding Putin for the invasion, and potentially encourage other aggressors.
“We’re going to see what happens with our meeting. We have a big meeting. We have great rare earth… [But] as far as rare earth, that’s very unimportant, relatively. I’m trying to save lives,” the US leader said in response to a query about possible Russian access to American critical minerals.
Trump made the latest remarks shortly before leaving Washington for Anchorage, Alaska for a summit that could mark a turning point – or yet another false dawn – in efforts to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
In a dramatic escalation of diplomatic efforts to resolve the grinding Ukraine conflict, now in its fourth year, US President Donald Trump is hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin for face-to-face talks in Alaska on Friday.