‘Absolute distrust’: Europe skeptical ahead of Trump-Putin summit

European leaders are waiting to see what results from the latest discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump as the leaders convene in Alaska Friday.

“[There’s] absolute distrust in even the slightest idea that Putin wants peace because he keeps annihilating Ukraine,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told Fox News Digital during her trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with Pentagon officials this week.

“Even now, when your president has clearly stated that he wants this war to end, and basically provides an opportunity for Putin to talk, still every single day and night, until those talks, he keeps bombing civilians,” she added. “He keeps annihilating Ukrainian land.”

President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

COULD TRUMP’S MEETING WITH PUTIN BE THE NEXT REAGAN-GORBACHEV MOMENT?

The United Nations on Wednesday confirmed that Russian attacks in Ukraine last month led to civilian casualty rates not seen since Putin first launched his invasion in 2022. 

“For the second month in a row, the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine hits a new three-year high,” Danielle Bell, head of the U.N. human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, said in a statement.

“Only the first three months after the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine saw more killed and injured than in this past month.” 

Friday’s meeting between Trump and Putin is significant because it is not only the first time Putin will return to the U.S. in a decade. It is the first time a U.S. leader has met with the Kremlin chief since he launched the invasion of Ukraine 3½ years ago.

But skepticism over whether the meeting will yield any results remains high, particularly after several seemingly positive calls between the pair earlier this year, which only amounted to a frustrated Trump and Putin’s continued bombardment of Ukraine. 

A Ukrainian soldier walks with children passing destroyed cars due to the war against Russia, in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, April 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“We in Europe, we know on our own skin that Russia, and Putin specifically, does deliver only violence,” the Lithuanian defense minister said. “They do break every deal they have ever made. They do keep that Imperial ambition of disrespecting international rules, disrespecting borders of independent nations.

“Therefore, what we believe is really important for President Trump to see for himself, is there even a tiniest wish for peace from Putin, or if there isn’t,” Sakaliene added. “And if there isn’t, I’m really quite sure that your president, as a person with vast experience of dealing with very different people, can make his own conclusions.”

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S MEETING WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN IN ALASKA

Trump has yet to detail how he will respond should his meeting with Putin prove fruitless in advancing a path toward a ceasefire, though he said Wednesday there would be “very severe consequences” if he determines Putin is not serious about peace. 

The White House did not answer Fox News Digital’s questions about whether Trump is considering additional sanctions.

Trump promised to begin targeting Russia’s war chest beginning Aug 8. by slapping 100% tariffs on Moscow’s chief export, oil.

But only India was hit with additional economic repercussions after Washington escalated its tariff rate to 50%, which, though still one of the highest tariffs implemented on a U.S. trading partner, falls well short of the 100% tariff originally threatened. 

Vehicles in flames at an oil depot after missiles struck the site in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Makiivka, eastern Ukraine, May 4. (AP)

China, the other top importer of Russian oil, has skirted U.S. secondary tariffs after Beijing and Washington pushed the deadline to November as they continue to hash out trade agreements, meaning China is under a 30% tariff rate. 

Security experts Fox News Digital has spoken with remain divided on how effective secondary tariffs will be in dissuading Putin’s war ambitions, which NATO allies have pose an existential threat to Europe. 

Even amid the uncertainty, Sakaliene said she and other NATO allies remain hopeful that this meeting will bring prompt action in the pursuit of ending the war, whether through an actual peace settlement or increased action against Moscow by the U.S. alongside its European allies.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene, center, and U.S. officers attend a holy Mass for the four U.S. soldiers who went missing during exercises conducted by the United States at the Pabrade training ground at the Cathedral Basilica in Vilnius, Lithuania, March 30, 2025.  (AP/Mindaugas Kulbis)

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“[I think that, for all of us, it’s going to be a difficult weekend,” the defense minister said. “But what really gives hope to us is that President Trump said very clearly that he is not going to be lenient if Putin continues this war.

“And if, after Friday, Putin continues to bomb Ukraine, then he’s going to react as we understand, really with the full force of justice.”