Ahead of his crucial meeting with Russian President Vladimir Zelensky on Friday, US President Donald Trump asserted on Thursday that he won't let his Russian counterpart "mess around" with him over conditions for a peace deal in Ukraine, as Kyiv and its allies push for the two leaders to find a breakthrough.

USPresidentDonald Trumpinsisted Thursday he would not be intimidated byRussianleaderVladimir Putinon the eve of a high-stakes summit and saidUkrainewould be involved in any deal on its fate.

Putin flies to Alaska on Friday at the invitation of Trump in his first visit to a Western country since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people.

AsRussia made gains on the battlefield, the Kremlin said the two presidents planned to meet one-on-one, heightening fears of European leaders that Putin will cajole Trump into a settlement imposed on Kyiv.

Read moreEuropean leaders say Ukrainians must 'decide their future' ahead of Trump-Putin summit

Trump insisted to reporters at the White House: "I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me."

"I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes... whether or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting," Trump said.

"And if it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly, and if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future," said Trump, who gave the summit a one-in-four chance of failure.

Trump has voiced admiration for Putin in the past and faced wide criticism after a 2018 summit in Helsinki where he appeared to accept the Russian's denials of US intelligence on Moscow's meddling in US elections.

Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskywas not invited to the Alaska summit, which he has denounced as a reward to Putin, and has refused Trump's calls to surrender territory.

Trump promised not to finalize any deal with Putin alone, and said he hoped to hold a three-way summit with Zelensky, possibly immediately afterwards in Alaska.

"The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term," Trump told Fox News Radio.

Secretary of StateMarco Rubiotold reporters any future deal needed also to ensure "security guarantees" for Ukraine.

But Trump has previously backed Russia's stance in ruling outNATOmembership for Ukraine.

Shifting Trump tone

Trump had boasted that he could end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House in January.

But his calls to Putin -- and intense pressure on Zelensky to accept concessions -- have failed to move the Russian leader and Trump has warned of "very severe consequences" if Putin keeps snubbing his overtures.

Read moreZelensky rules out ceding Donbas region as Russians make fresh advance

The talks are set to begin at 11:30 am (1930 GMT) Friday at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, a major US military installation in Alaska that has been crucial in monitoring Russia.

Zelensky met in Londonwith British Prime MinisterKeir Starmer, who vowed solidarity, a day after receiving support in Berlin.

Germany's ChancellorFriedrich Merzurged Putin on Friday to seize the "opportunity" of a ceasefire.

"The goal must be a summit also attended by President Zelensky" where "a ceasefire must be agreed", he said in a statement, adding that Trump "can now take a major step toward peace".

Russia has made major gains on the ground ahead of the summit.

Ukraine on Thursday issued a mandatory evacuation of families with children from the eastern town of Druzhkivka and four nearby villages near an area where Russia made a swift breakthrough.

Mixed views on diplomacy

Diplomacy since Russia's invasion has largely failed to secure agreements beyond swaps of prisoners.

Russia said Thursday it hadreturned 84 prisoners to Ukrainein exchange for an equal number of Russian POWs.

The war has proved divisive in the United States, with a Pew Research Center poll finding that 59 percent of Americans lacked confidence in Trump's wisdom on the issue.

Anchorage, nestled under mountains, bore few indications it was the center of global attention except for signs denouncing Putin put up on downtown streets, where people gave mixed opinions of the summit.

"I think it's a travesty to invite a war criminal like Putin to the United States. My primary concern is that he's going to negotiate away everything and it's not going to be possible to have a peaceful solution," said Jay Ahuja, 62, a retiree from North Carolina.

But Kimberly Brown, a 63-year-old retiree from Ohio, said Alaska was a "perfect place" for the summit.

"I just think that Trump is the best person to negotiate world peace."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Originally published on France24