The White House is considering inviting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Alaska for the planned 15 August meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC News reported on 10 August, citing senior US officials and people briefed on internal discussions.
"It's being discussed," one person briefed on the discussions told NBC News. A senior administration official described the possibility as "absolutely" viable, adding that "everyone is very hopeful that would happen."
However, no official invitation has been extended to Zelenskyy, and it remains unclear whether he would ultimately attend any meetings in Alaska.
"The President remains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders. Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin," a senior White House official told NBC, when asked about an official invitation.
The potential trilateral summit represents a shift from the administration's initial position. The White House had originally made a Putin meeting with Zelenskyy a precondition for the Trump-Putin encounter, but Trump later dropped this requirement.
According to sources briefed on the discussions, if Zelenskyy were to travel to Alaska, it remains uncertain whether he and Putin would meet face-to-face in the same room.
The diplomatic activity follows a visit by Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow, where he met with Putin ahead of Friday's deadline set by the president for Russia to agree to a ceasefire or face additional sanctions. Putin has not agreed to a ceasefire but has presented the outlines of a potential agreement that would allow Russia to retain significant portions of Ukrainian territory.
Trump said on 8 August that any resolution between the two countries would likely involve territorial exchanges, stating there would be "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both."
Zelenskyy responded defiantly to such proposals on 9 August, declaring that Ukrainians "will not give their land to Russia."
Bloomberg previously reported that Washington and Moscow are pursuing a deal to end the war in Ukraine that would cement Russian control over occupied territories. The Wall Street Journal also reported that Putin had presented the Trump administration with a ceasefire plan contingent on territorial concessions from Kyiv.
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