Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are to hold talks in Alaska today to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine and pathway to a possible end to Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The summit marks Trump’s latest effort to make true his campaign pledge to end the war, following more than six months of failed attempts to urge Putin to stop bombarding Ukrainian cities.
Trump has walked back on expectations of a breakthrough, indicating that “an immediate ceasefire” may not be secured during what he described as a “feel-out” meeting, but he warned of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin blocked efforts to reach a peace deal.
The US President has indicated that this could involve economic sanctions on Moscow, as well as secondary sanctions on those countries, including India, China and Turkey, that are funding its war effort through purchases of Russian oil.
However, Trump has previously backed away from acting on any of his threats against Russia, and Ukraine and European allies fear he could be persuaded by Putin to hand over swathes of Ukrainian land in exchange for ceasing fire. This, they believe, will simply hand Putin breathing space to rearm for another attempt to take Ukraine in its entirety.
Here, The i Paper talks a closer look at the details surrounding the crucial summit, as well as what the key negotiating points are expected to be.
The meeting will take place on the US military’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska’s biggest city. It marks Putin’s first visit to the US in 10 years and the first time a Russian president will travel to the state.
Trump is expected in Anchorage around 2pm local time (7pm UK time).
He is scheduled to hold the meeting with Putin at 3.30pm local time (8.30pm UK time, with a news conference expected at 7.30pm (10.30pm UK time).
Ukraine supporters gather ahead of the meeting in Anchorage, Alaska (Photo: Hasan Akbas/Anadolu via Getty Images)Russia’s delegation will include the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov; Defence Minister, Andrei Belousov; Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov; presidential aide Yuri Ushakov; and Special Presidential Envoy on Foreign Investment and Economic Co-operation, Kirill Dmitriev.
Trump’s delegation is expected to include the US Vice President, JD Vance; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth; special envoy Steve Witkoff; and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Volodymyr Zelensky will be absent from the meeting, but Trump hinted on Thursday that the Ukrainian President could join him and Putin for a second meeting if Friday’s summit went well.
“I don’t know where we’re going to have the second meeting, but we have an idea of three different locations, and we’ll be including the possibility, because it would be by far the easiest of staying in Alaska,” Trump told Fox News.
European leaders and key members of the Coalition of the Willing, including the UK, France and Germany, will also be absent from the talks today.
Starmer greeting Zelensky at Downing Street on Thursday (Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)Trump held a virtual call with European leaders and Zelensky on Wednesday ahead of the summit.
While the call was held privately, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the leaders told Trump “Ukraine must be at the table as soon as follow-up meetings take place”, while three officials briefed on the meeting indicated the US was willing to contribute security guarantees for Ukraine if certain conditions were met.
Zelensky also said he held “good, productive” talks with Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday, discussing “in considerable detail the security guarantees that can make peace truly durable” in Ukraine if a ceasefire is achieved, as well as the UK’s continuing military support to the Ukrainian military.
What could happen to Ukraine?
A key sticking point in the lead-up to the Alaska summit has been whether Ukraine will cede part of its territory to Russia in exchange for peace, including about 19 per cent of its land which the Russian military occupies.
Trump said on Monday that a peace settlement would require “some swapping, changes in land” by both Ukraine and Russia, but did not specify which territories were on the table.
Trump said he would update Zelensky and European leaders if Putin proposed a “fair deal” during the summit.
Four possible outcomes for Ukraine being suggested before the Alaska meeting on FridayThe remarks echoed the Kremlin’s repeated claim that peace will only be achieved if Russia gains sovereignty over the Ukrainian regions it partially occupies – Donetsk and Luhansk, known as the Donbas, as well as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. It also wants recognition of its illegal 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Zelensky has rejected the proposals, saying: “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.”
Ukrainians and their allies have little faith that gaining some territory in the east or ending the current war would be the end of Putin’s aggression against Ukraine or Europe more widely.
Putin has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine has no right to exist as a country, and made clear that he will not be satisfied than anything other than destroying Ukraine’s sovereignty and existence in their entirety.
Another key Russian demand is an assurance that Ukraine will not join the Nato military alliance. Trump reportedly told European leaders again this week that Nato membership for Ukraine was not on the table.
John Foreman, former UK defence attaché to Russia, told The i Paper that Moscow might also press for the rollback of Nato’s position to that which was held in 1997, when the Nato-Russia Founding Act was signed, setting a framework for co-operation and security between Moscow and the alliance.
Since then, several countries bordering Russia have joined Nato – including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, which all have experience of being part of Moscow’s orbit under the USSR – out of fear that a revanchist Russia will invade and occupy them again.
Foreman said that Moscow would not demand that all countries that have joined since 1997 leave, but “wants their armed forces reduced to their very weak, unmodernised status at the time of signing and any Nato forces and infrastructure deployed in the eastern Nato states removed”.
Read Next
square WORLDAlaska rediscovers Russian roots as Trump-Putin show rolls into Anchorage
Read MoreCloser co-operation between Russia and Western countries on security, trade and energy are also expected to be used as leverage in the talks.
Asked what could come from the summit in Alaska, Luke March, personal chair of post-Soviet and comparative politics at the University of Edinburgh, said: “I’d envisage only very slow or symbolic process, with real achievements further down the line – if at all.
“But Russia thinks that time is on its side,” he added. “The military momentum is with Russia and its own economic problems are not yet so great as to really frustrate this.
“Certainly, some kind of symbolic ceasefire might emerge – Russia can clearly benefit from a pause in order to regroup as we go into the colder months, but it doesn’t really change the longer-term dynamics of the war.
“But if Putin can somehow, against all hard evidence, persuade Trump that he means peace, and Ukraine is the obstacle – a view Trump is inclined to anyway – that will be a big win.”
Hence then, the article about trump putin meeting understand the aims stakes and what could happen next was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Trump-Putin meeting: Understand the aims, stakes, and what could happen next )
Also on site :
- Exclusive: Anthropic acknowledges testing new AI model representing ‘step change’ in capabilities, after accidental data leak reveals its existence
- Montana Senate candidate says he will introduce bill to draft Graham if elected
- Clarks' 'Stylish' Slingback Sandals Feel Like 'Walking on Clouds,' and They're Nearly 40% Off at Macy's