Lindsey Graham 'confident' Trump will walk away from summit 'like Reagan' if Putin insists on bad deal

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator Lindsey Graham said on Saturday, August 9, that he is "confident" President Donald Trump will walk away "like Reagan" if Russian President Vladimir Putin insists on a bad deal.

Graham added that he supported Trump’s decision to meet with Putin and invoked former President Ronald Reagan’s summit with former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev before the end of the Cold War and the subsequent fall of the Soviet Union.

Lindsey Graham backs Donald Trump in X post

Lindsey Graham wrote on X, "I’m confident President Trump will walk away – like Reagan – if Putin insists on a bad deal. Good luck, Mr President, in your efforts to end this brutal war." He added, "The world should be pulling for you. I know I am."

His post follows Donald Trump’s announcement on Friday, August 8, that he would meet with the Russian leader in Alaska next week to discuss ending the more than three-year-long war in Ukraine. Interestingly, Trump proposed that the Eastern European nations swap territory to fast-track a peace deal.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the idea and urged the US to give Kyiv a seat at the table.

Meanwhile, President Trump also brushed off reports that he wanted Putin and Zelensky to speak first.

He told reporters, "He would like to meet with me and I’ll do whatever I can to stop the killing." The meeting comes as criticism mounts following Trump’s unfulfilled threat to hit Russia with new sanctions. 

Trump gave Putin 50 days to accept terms for a ceasefire but later shortened the timeline as the Kremlin continued to strike Ukraine. However, Trump announced up to 50 percent tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil.

Moreover, the secondary sanctions were part of a bipartisan measure led by Graham and Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) aimed at defunding Russia’s war machine.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, "Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country."

However, he did not issue similar sanctions on China, which is also a major trading partner with Moscow.

Volodymyr Zelensky snubs Trump’s offer to cede Ukraine land to Russia

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, August 9, that Ukraine will not give up land to Russia to bring an end to the war but is ready to work with Donald Trump for real and lasting peace.

Zelensky's statement comes a day after Trump said that he is close to reaching a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine that will involve a "swapping of territories."

The Ukrainian leader made the remarks in response to reports on August 8 that discussions between Washington and Moscow centered on a deal that would lock in Russia’s occupation of territory acquired during its military invasion.

It included a demand by Vladimir Putin that Ukraine cede Crimea, which Kremlin forces illegally annexed in 2014, and its entire eastern Donbas area.

The deal would require Zelensky to order a withdrawal of troops from parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions still held by Kyiv.

Zelensky said that any decisions taken without Ukraine "are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not achieve anything." 

He added, "The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. No one will deviate from this."

The Ukrainian president further added that Ukraine is ready to work with Trump and "all our partners" for a "peace that will not fall apart because of Moscow’s desire."