United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Alaska on August 15, reportedly to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. Absent from the discussions will be Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. And according to the publicly available agenda, so too will be the topic of protecting civilians.
Since the Trump administration launched talks on Ukraine earlier this year, rights activists have urged stakeholders to prioritize freeing Ukrainian civilians unlawfully held by Russia, and for both sides to commit to repatriating all prisoners of war (POWs) after the fighting ends.
This message gained traction. The Ukrainian leadership, the US, and many European actors have spoken publicly about the need to free detained civilians. The Kremlin’s spokesperson has referenced prioritizing the “humanitarian perspective.”
Talks so far have yielded POW exchanges between Ukraine and Russia. However, Russia holds thousands more civilians whom authorities systematically torture, which a United Nations body has called a crime against humanity.
President Trump said “territory swapping” is on the Alaska agenda but has not mentioned any violations, including war crimes or other serious crimes under international law Russian forces are committing in the Ukrainian territories they occupy or how civilians will be protected while Russia continues to be the occupying power.
Russian occupying authorities are imposing Russian citizenship, forcibly transferring civilians to other areas, coercing residents to serve in the Russian military, imposing the Russian state curriculum in schools, and politically indoctrinating school children in order to deny them the right to know and express their Ukrainian identity.
It is an affront to victims and survivors that Putin, who, along with five other Russian officials, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for serious international crimes in Ukraine, will be welcomed on US territory. But it comes as little surprise. The Trump administration has sanctioned key ICC officials and defunded programs that supported investigations into war crimes committed during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Perpetrators of grave crimes, including widespread, indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilians and civilian infrastructure, torture and ill-treatment in occupied areas and Russian prisons, and the torture and executions of POWs, must be held accountable. At minimum, Trump should act to secure the release of Ukrainian civilians facing daily torture in Russian custody.
