US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday in Alaska in a high-risk summit that could prove decisive for the future of Ukraine.
Putin will step onto Western soil for the first time since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a relentless war that has killed tens of thousands of people and has seen Russia make rapid gains just before the summit.
Both leaders voiced hopes of a productive meeting, but while Trump warned he could judge it a failure after just a few minutes if Putin does not budge, the Kremlin said the two would speak for “a minimum” of at least six or seven hours.
Trump has called the summit a “feel-out meeting” to test Putin, whom he last saw in 2019, and said Friday that he was not going to Alaska to “negotiate.” He reportedly said aboard Air Force One en route to the meeting that he expects to discuss territorial concessions in Ukraine, but added, “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine”.
“I’m here to get them at the table,” he said of the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would not forecast the outcome of the meeting.
“We never make any predictions ahead of time,” Lavrov told Russian state TV after he reached Alaska, wearing what appeared to be a shirt with “USSR” written across it in Cyrillic script.
Russia’s “position is clear and unambiguous,” he said.
Europe on the sidelines
Every word and gesture will be closely watched by European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was not included and has publicly refused pressure from Trump to surrender territory seized by Russia.
Zelensky said Friday that Moscow was still killing people and not showing that it wanted to end the war, hours before the start of a summit.
“There is no order, nor any signals from Moscow that it is preparing to end this war… they are also killing on the day of the negotiations,” Zelensky said in a video address posted on social media.
Trump has promised to consult with European leaders and Zelenskyy, saying that any final agreement would come in a three-way meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian president to “divvy up” territory.
Zelenskyy’s European supporters have also been relegated to the role of nervous spectators, even as they attempt to add pressure from the sidelines for favourable peace terms.
Several urged Trump to find a way towards formal peace talks over the war in Ukraine during Friday’s potentially high-stakes meeting. Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, had agreed with European leaders not to hold any discussions with Russia on Ukraine’s future unless Ukrainian leaders were also at the table.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz organised a virtual conference call of European leaders with Trump on Tuesday to present the American president with Europe’s priorities.
Afterwards, he said that Trump and Europe agreed on the matter “to a very large extent”.
On Thursday night, Merz said Trump “can now take a significant step towards establishing peace,” and added that Europe’s goal was another summit that also includes Zelenskyy, followed by a ceasefire and a peace backed up by “strong security guarantees” for Ukraine.
“We expect President Putin to take President Trump’s offer of talks seriously and to enter into negotiations with Ukraine without preconditions after the meeting in Alaska,” Merz said.
His words were echoed by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk: “Peace through strength, nothing else,” Tusk wrote on X on Friday morning.
Tusk noted that Friday marked the 105th anniversary of Polish troops managing to halt the advance of the Soviet Red Army on 15 August 1920 during the Battle of Warsaw, adding that “15 August is a good day for talks with Russia about war and peace”.
Trump’s latest shift
Trump has boasted of his relationship with Putin, blamed predecessor Joe Biden for the war and had vowed before his return to the White House in January that he would be able to bring peace within 24 hours.
But despite repeated calls to Putin, and a stunning February 28 White House meeting in which Trump publicly berated Zelenskyy, the Russian leader has shown no signs of compromise.
Trump has acknowledged his frustration with Putin and warned of “very severe consequences” if he does not accept a ceasefire – but also agreed to see him in Alaska.
The talks are set to begin at 11:30 am (9:30pm CET) at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War facility for surveillance of the former Soviet Union.
Adding to the historical significance, the United States bought Alaska in 1867 from Russia – a deal Moscow has cited to show the legitimacy of land swaps.
The Kremlin said it expected Putin and Trump to meet alone with interpreters before a working lunch with aides.
Neither leader is expected to step off the base into Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, where protesters have put up signs of solidarity with Ukraine.
A ‘personal victory’ for Putin?
Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, leading him to curtail travel sharply since the war began.
However, the United States is not party to the Hague tribunal and Trump’s Treasury Department temporarily eased sanctions on top Russian officials to allow them to travel and use bank cards in Alaska.
Zelenskyy has called the Alaska summit a “personal victory” for Putin, whose forces have gone on the offensive in eastern Ukraine in recent days.
With the trip, Putin “is coming out of isolation,” Zelenskyy said, and he has “somehow postponed sanctions,” which Trump had vowed to impose on Russia if there was no progress.
(bts, bms)
