ADRIAN MA, HOST:
President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are set to hold a summit this Friday in Alaska. This meeting would be their first since Trump returned to office, and Trump says he wants to use it to broker an end to the war in Ukraine. Ukraine, however, was not invited to this summit. For more on what to expect, we're joined now by NPR's Greg Myre, who's in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Thanks for being here, Greg.
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Hi, Adrian.
MA: Greg, what is Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying about this summit that he won't be attending?
MYRE: Well, he's already issued videos and statements making it clear Ukraine is not prepared to give up any land the Russians have captured. Here he is on one of those videos.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Non-English language spoken).
MYRE: So he's saying, "we will not reward Russia for what it has perpetrated." And then he goes on to add that Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier. Zelenskyy also attacks Russia's President Putin, but he stresses he's supportive of President Trump's efforts. He says, at one point, what is needed now is not a pause in the killings, but a real lasting peace. President Trump told me so, and I fully support it.
MA: And how about the Ukrainian public? How are they viewing this summit?
MYRE: Well, in a word, skeptical. We spoke with some Ukrainian families at a park on a sunny summer day. Here's Taisha Savchenko (ph). She's 39. We met her with her two children and her husband, who's on a break from his military service.
TAISHA SAVCHENKO: (Non-English language spoken).
MYRE: So she's saying that even if there's a halt to the fighting, she thinks the Russians will hold on to the land in eastern Ukraine. They'll regroup and rearm for a few years and then attack again. And that's really a very widespread belief here.
MA: Greg, do we know what Russian leader Vladimir Putin wants to get out of this summit?
MYRE: Well, we don't know the specifics, but Putin suggested something last week that persuaded Trump to hold this summit and hear him out. Now, the summit itself is a big deal for Putin. Trump has been very critical of him recently. Now Putin has a chance for a face-to-face meeting to rebuild that relationship and perhaps ward off more sanctions.
Now, the Ukrainian concern is that Putin will make some small gesture, like a partial or temporary ceasefire, that doesn't address any core Ukrainian concerns. Then the Ukrainians will be in the awkward position of rejecting that offer, and the Russians will accuse them of not wanting peace. We do know the main Russian demands from previous failed peace efforts. They want most or all of the Ukrainian land they now hold. That's nearly 20% of the country. Russia wants guarantees that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO, and Russia wants Ukraine to have a very small military. Ukraine rejects all of this.
MA: So there's a lot on the agenda here. And it's worth noting that most summits between the U.S. and Russia are planned long in advance. This one is coming together pretty quickly. So how might this shape the dynamics?
MYRE: Well, it absolutely could. It makes this summit very unpredictable. Traditionally, these U.S.-Russia summits are worked out over weeks or even months. All the details are arranged ahead of time. Every event is carefully choreographed. The guiding principle, really, for both sides is no surprises. But that's just not how Trump operates. We don't know what Putin might put on the table. We don't know how Trump will respond. And even if Trump and Putin reach some sort of understanding, it won't mean that much until we see how Ukraine responds.
MA: Greg, what's the latest on the battlefield?
MYRE: Yeah, an overnight drone strike by Ukraine set off a huge explosion and ignited a major fire in an oil refinery in southern Russia, according to the Russian media. This has become a regular occurrence as Ukraine hits at Russia's transportation network. And Russia also carried out multiple drone strikes. What used to be a few dozen drone strikes a night now is often in the hundreds.
MA: Thank you. That's NPR's Greg Myre in Kyiv.
MYRE: Sure thing, Adrian. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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