White House reveals why Zelensky won’t be at Trump’s one-on-one with Putin

TOPSHOT - (COMBO) This combination of file photographs created on August 8, 2025, shows (From L) a handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on June 27, 2024, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on during a signature ceremony of Agreement on Security Cooperation and Long-term Support between Ukraine and Estonia during the European Council Summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, US President-elect Donald Trump looking on during a meeting with France's President at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on December 7, 2024, and Russian President Vladimir Putin as he gives a speech during an event to mark the 1160th anniversary of Russia's statehood in Veliky Novgorod on September 21, 2022. US President Donald Trump said on August 7, 2025, that he would meet with Vladimir Putin for talks on the war in Ukraine, even though the Russian leader had not spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This statement, which contradicts previous reports that a meeting between Putin and Zelensky was a prerequisite for the summit, comes after Trump gave Moscow until August 8, 2025, to reach a ceasefire, or face new sanctions. (Photo by various sources / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Ukrainian Presidential Press Service " - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by HANDOUT,SARAH MEYSSONNIER,ILYA PITALEV/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/POOL/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump (middle) will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) without Ukrainian Presidenet Volodymyr Zelensky (left) on Friday (Picture: AFP)

The White House has provided the reason that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not invited to US President Donald Trump’s meeting with their Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

It has to do with who initiated it.

The ‘meeting came about’ for Friday because Putin requested it, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

‘So the president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of President Putin,’ she said during her press briefing on Monday afternoon.

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‘The goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.’

When asked, Leavitt also revealed the location of the meeting, which was previously a mystery.

It will take place at the state’s largest city, Anchorage.

‘Yes, that’s part of the plan,’ she said.

TOPSHOT - (FILES) Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and US President Donald Trump shake hands before a meeting in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin could meet for a summit as early as next week, the Kremlin said on August 7, 2025. The meeting would be the first between a sitting US and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021, and comes as Trump seeks to broker an end to Russia's military assault on Ukraine. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and US President Donald Trump (left) will meet in Anchorage, Alaska, without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (Picture: Getty Images)

The time remains unknown.

‘And as for the other mechanics and logistics, I will let our team speak to that when they’re ironed out,’ Leavitt said.

She added that Trump hopes the three can meet sometime after his one-on-one with Putin.

‘I think the president of United States, getting in the room with the president of Russia, sitting face to face, rather than speaking over the telephone, will give this president the best indication of how to end this war,’ Leavitt said.

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