Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected a suggestion by US President Donald Trump that a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia could see the two countries engage in "some swapping of territories".
The suggestion was made by Mr Trump as he confirmed he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska next Friday in an effort to broker a deal, in what would be the first meeting between the US and Russian presidents since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Mr Trump announced the meeting on his social media platform, Truth Social.
His post made no mention of Mr Zelenskyy, who later warned in a video message that any deal reached without Kyiv at the table would be unable to end the war.
"Putin did not believe in our people and therefore made the hopeless decision to try to take Ukraine," Mr Zelenskyy said.
"This was his main mistake — not taking Ukrainians into account.
"Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier."
The US president had earlier shot down reports that he would only meet Mr Putin if the Russian leader also met Mr Zelenskyy.
The Kremlin confirmed the August 15 meeting would take place in Alaska, Russian state media reported.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov reportedly also suggested a second meeting could be held in Russia.
Mr Trump has been trying to secure an agreement since his return to the White House seven months ago, and had given Mr Putin a deadline of Friday, August 8 to agree to a deal or face economic penalties.
Asked about a deal at the White House on Friday, before the meeting details were announced, Mr Trump said: "I think we're getting close."
"The European leaders want to see peace. President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace. And Zelenskyy wants to see peace," he said.
Asked if Ukraine would have to give up territory under a possible deal, Mr Trump said: "We're looking at that, but we're actually looking to get some back and some swapping.
"It's very complicated. But we're going to get some back, we're going to get some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both."
"Now, President Zelenskyy has to get all of his — everything he needs, because he's going to have to get ready to sign something. And I think he is working hard to get that done," Mr Trump added.
Under the Ukrainian constitution, Mr Zelenskyy cannot sign a deal to cede Ukrainian territory.
However, Ukrainian officials have reportedly indicated in the past that Kyiv would be open to accepting a deal that would account for Ukraine's inability to win back its lost territories by force.
Earlier, Bloomberg reported Washington and Moscow were working on a deal that would allow Russia to continue occupying all the Ukrainian territory it had seized.
The White House did not dispute the report when contacted by the ABC, but said it would "not comment on alleged details in the news media" out of respect for sensitive diplomatic discussions.
The Wall Street Journal later reported that Mr Putin had presented the US with a ceasefire proposal that demanded major territorial concessions by Ukraine.
Before the meeting was announced, Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine, the US and other partners were "united in the understanding that there is a chance to achieve at least a ceasefire, and that everything depends on the right pressure on Russia".
European and Ukrainian officials reportedly said they feared Mr Putin was using the offer as a ploy to avoid new US sanctions and tariffs.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump have spoken by phone several times this year, but the last face-to-face meeting between the Russian leader and a US president was in 2021, when Mr Putin met Joe Biden in Switzerland.
He has not visited the US since 2015, when he attended a UN summit in New York and met with then-president Barack Obama.
Putin's deadline arrives
Mr Trump had threatened Russia with new sanctions, and a 100 per cent tariff on exports, if no deal was reached by Friday.
He had also threatened "secondary" tariffs or sanctions on Russia's trading partners.
He has so far announced no new measures since the deadline's arrival. But earlier in the week, he pledged to double the 25 per cent tariff on India because it was a major buyer of Russian oil.
Other big buyers of Russian oil, such as China and Türkiye, have not been subject to similar tariffs.
Mr Trump hopes the tariff pressure will incentivise India to stop buying Russian oil.
But it risks backfiring and pushing India — an important strategic partner for the US — closer to Russia.
On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he'd "had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin".
Mr Modi said Mr Putin had updated him on Ukraine, and the leaders committed to strengthening the India-Russia partnership.
Reuters reported on Friday that India had paused plans to procure new American weapons and aircraft in response to the tariff, citing three Indian officials.
The report said India's defence minister, Rajnath Singh, had cancelled a forthcoming trip to Washington to announce details of the purchases.
But the Indian government later issued a statement calling the report "false and fabricated".
