Image Source: Agencies

Aug 14, 2025: If Russian President Vladimir Putin does not agree to halt the war in Ukraine following the summit on Friday, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, there will be "very severe consequences."

French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Trump made it "very clear" during a virtual meeting on Wednesday with leaders from Europe that the United States wants to achieve a ceasefire at the upcoming US-Russia summit in Alaska.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, told the group in the same meeting that Putin "is bluffing" ahead of the planned meeting with Trump.

Zelenskyy stated that Putin is "trying to apply pressure... on all sectors of the Ukrainian front" in an effort to demonstrate Russia's "capability of occupying all of Ukraine."

Putin is also bluffing about sanctions, “as if they do not matter to him and are ineffective. In reality, sanctions are very helpful and are hitting Russia's war economy hard,” Zelenskyy said.