Trump threatens 'very serious consequences' if Putin doesn't move toward peace at Alaska summit

President Trump on Wednesday warned that Russia would suffer “very serious consequences” if President Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the Ukraine war after their summit.

Mr. Trump did not elaborate on what those consequences would be for Russia.

He said Friday’s summit in Alaska was a crucial step toward ending the more than three-year war in Ukraine, but he would need to see a genuine commitment to peace from Mr. Putin before setting up a follow-up meeting to hash out a ceasefire agreement.

Still, Mr. Trump voiced cautious optimism about brokering peace for Ukraine.

“There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting, which will be more productive than the first, because the first is [where] I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference at the Kennedy Center.

If Friday’s summit goes well, a second meeting should happen “almost immediately” between him, Mr. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Mr. Trump said he will call Mr. Zelenskyy after the summit with the Russian leader, and then he will call the other European leaders.

“It’s going to be a very important meeting, but it’s setting the table for the second meeting,” he said of the summit on Friday.

He also cautioned that there may not be a second meeting to hash out a ceasefire.

“There may be no second meeting, because if I feel that it’s not appropriate to have it, because I didn’t get the answers that we have to have, then we’re not going to have a second,” Mr. Trump said.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump huddles with Mr. Zelenskyy and other European leaders in a video conference meeting. Mr. Trump described the call as “very friendly.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz described the discussion as “constructive and good,” but Mr. Zelenskyy warned that Mr. Putin is “trying to apply pressure … on all sectors of the Ukrainian front” in an attempt to show that Russia is “capable of occupying all of Ukraine.”

Mr. Zelenskyy said after the meeting that “there should be a ceasefire first, then security guarantees — real security guarantees” and that Mr. Trump “expressed his support,” CNN reported.

Mr. Trump agreed with the European leaders that Ukraine must be part of any talks related to land yields to end the war, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

“Territorial questions that fall under Ukraine’s authority cannot be negotiated and will only be negotiated by the president of Ukraine,” Mr. Macron said.

Mr. Trump said on Monday that a peace settlement would require “land swapping” by Ukraine and Russia.

Mr. Macron also suggested Mr. Trump will “seek a future trilateral meeting” with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents.

“I think that’s a very important point in this regard. And we hope that it can be held in Europe, in a neutral country that is acceptable to all parties,” Mr. Macron said.

• This story includes wire service reports.