Trump Has a Warning for Putin Ahead of Summit

US President Trump said Wednesday that there will be "very severe consequences" if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop his war in Ukraine after their Friday summit in Alaska, though he did not say what those consequences might be, the AP reports. Trump's comment came after a virtual meeting with European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who told the group that Putin "is bluffing" about seeking peace. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the leaders had a "constructive and good" discussion with Trump. European diplomats who spoke to CNN said Trump said he would not negotiate the ceding of Ukrainian territory with Putin, as that's not his to negotiate with.

After the virtual meeting, Zelensky posted on social media that the group agreed on five principles for peace negotiations, CNN reports. They are:

• "Everything concerning Ukraine must be discussed exclusively with Ukraine. We must prepare a trilateral format for talks. There must be a ceasefire."
• "There must be security guarantees—truly reliable ones."
• Russia cannot have a veto over Ukraine's European and NATO prospects."
• Sanctions against Russia must increase if no ceasefire agreement is reached Friday.
• An immediate ceasefire should be the "central topic" of the Trump-Putin summit.