BERLIN, August 16. /TASS/. European countries must develop a pragmatic plan for a peace resolution in Ukraine and hold Vladimir Zelensky accountable, demanded Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the German party Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance - Reason and Justice" (BSW).

"The Alaska summit was not a disappointment," Wagenknecht stated. "The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump met at all marks diplomatic progress compared to previous years. The world is somewhat safer when the US and Russia engage in high-level negotiations again."

She emphasized that European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, should now focus on facilitating negotiations by proposing a realistic peace plan and ensuring Zelensky is held accountable.

"Unless we abandon the prospect of Ukraine’s NATO accession and recognize the current frontline as a border, the casualties will not cease," Wagenknecht warned. She pointed out that the majority of the Ukrainian population desires peace, even if it means territorial concessions. "Anyone claiming that Ukraine should resolve this issue independently must heed the mood of the people, which is increasingly less supportive of Zelensky’s uncompromising stance," she concluded.

On August 15, Putin and Trump met at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Alaska. Their talks lasted approximately three hours, including a one-on-one session in the American leader’s limousine en route to the main negotiation venue, as well as a subsequent small-group discussion involving three participants on either side. The Russian delegation included presidential aide Yury Ushakov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while the American side was represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff.

In a statement to the media following the talks, Putin said that the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict was the main topic of the summit. The Russian leader also called for turning the page in bilateral relations and resuming cooperation and invited Trump to Moscow. For his part, Trump announced progress in the talks, but noted that the parties had not managed to reach agreement on everything.