by JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AL (AP) — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted each other warmly on Friday as if they were old friends before beginning hours of talks that could change the course of the war in Ukraine and the relationship between Moscow and Washington.
Trump, who had descended from Air Force One, greeted Putin with a round of applause as he walked along the red carpets set out for each leader. They clasped hands for a long while, both men smiling, and Putin finally smiled and gestured toward the sky with his hands still linked.
B-2s and F-22s, military aircraft built to counter Russia during the Cold War, flew over to commemorate the occasion while uniformed military personnel stood at attention nearby at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
“President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?” shouted the reporters in the area. and Putin raised his hand to his ear without responding. As the car went by the cameras, Putin smiled broadly as he and Trump walked into the U.S. presidential limousine.
The one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin has been rescheduled to a three-on-three meeting, which will also involve Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister, and Yuri Ushakov, the foreign affairs adviser, will accompany Putin. The shift suggests that the White House is adopting a more circumspect stance than it did in Helsinki in 2018, where Trump and Putin had their first two-hour private encounter with only their interpreters present.
At the conclusion of the summit, a joint press conference between Putin and Trump is anticipated.
Trump has the opportunity to demonstrate to the world during the sit-down that he is a skilled negotiator and an international peacemaker. He used to claim that he could rapidly bring the slaughter to an end, but he and his allies have portrayed him as a formidable negotiator who can find a way to do so.
Putin sees a long-awaited chance to try to strike a deal with Trump that would solidify Russia’s gains, thwart Kyiv’s attempt to join NATO, and ultimately reintegrate Ukraine into Moscow’s circle. Despite the significant stakes, European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are not invited.
For Trump, the stakes are high. By allowing Putin to enter the country, the president is providing him with the approval he craves after he was shunned after his invasion of Ukraine three and a half years ago. In 1867, America purchased Alaska from Russia for just two cents per acre. The fact that Zelenskyy was left out of the first meeting between Trump and Putin is a serious setback to the West’s stance of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” and raises the prospect that Trump would accept a settlement that Ukraine does not want.
Since Russia and Ukraine continue to have very different demands for peace, any success is far from guaranteed. Any short-term truce has long been opposed by Putin, who has associated it with a freeze on Ukraine’s mobilization efforts and a halt in Western weaponry supplies—conditions that Kyiv and its Western allies reject.
RISKY THINGS! Shortly before boarding Air Force One, Trump posted.
Putin visited a business that makes omega-3 fish oil capsules in Magadan, in Russia’s Far East, on his route to the meeting, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russian state TV that Putin used the flight to review papers on Ukraine, economic cooperation, tensions with the United States, and international issues.
Earlier in the week, Trump stated that there was a 25% possibility that the summit would fail, but he also hinted that if it went well, he may invite Zelenskyy to Alaska for a follow-up three-way meeting.
Trump has also shown skepticism about achieving a speedy ceasefire, but he has pushed for a swift conclusion to a comprehensive peace agreement. That seems to support Putin’s long-standing claim that Russia prefers a comprehensive agreement to end the conflict that reflects its demands rather than a short-term cessation of hostilities.
Trump had previously described the encounter as a “feel-out.” However, he has also warned that if Putin does not agree to cease the war, Russia will suffer extremely serious repercussions.
Trump stated on Friday that Russian demands that Ukraine give up territory as part of a peace agreement will be discussed in his discussions with Putin. While stating that Ukraine must make a decision, he also recommended that Zelenskyy make some compromises.
I must let Ukraine decide that for itself. Additionally, Trump told reporters accompanying him to Alaska, “I think they’ll make a proper decision.”
According to Trump, the United States and European nations might provide Ukraine with security guarantees, but not through NATO. A long-term objective for Ukrainians hoping to strengthen their connections with the West is Ukraine joining the transatlantic security alliance, something Putin has vehemently opposed.
According to a senior NATO military official who spoke on condition of anonymity and was not authorized to talk publicly, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, is in Alaska to advise Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on military matters. European leaders, who have attempted to persuade Trump to be hard with Putin and avoid dealing over Kyiv’s head, are sure to welcome his attendance.
Trump sat for an interview with Bret Baier of the Fox News Channel on Air Force One while en route to Alaska. He stated in an internet video that he hoped the meeting would go really well and that if it didn’t, he would quickly return home.
After a follow-up query, he replied, “Yeah, I would walk.”
Zelenskyy has often questioned Putin’s desire to engage in sincere negotiations. In their increasingly frantic discussions with U.S. leaders over the past week, his European allies have emphasized the importance of Ukraine’s participation in any peace negotiations.
Foreign nations will be keenly observing Trump’s response to Putin in order to assess the potential implications of the exchange for their own interactions with the U.S. president, who has abandoned traditional diplomacy in favor of his own transactional approach to relationships.
The conference takes place while the battle has depleted resources and resulted in significant losses for both sides.
Since the February 2022 invasion, Ukraine has resisted far longer than some had anticipated. However, it is struggling to repel Russia’s considerably larger army, battling for every inch on the more than 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line while dealing with bombardments of its cities.
Trump has stated that he believes it was very respectful of Putin to visit the United States rather than meet in Russia, despite some people objecting to the summit’s location.
Pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov, who is based in Moscow, noted that the decision to hold the summit in Alaska highlighted the distance from Europe and Ukraine.
The leaders can meet more safely and avoid protests because they are on a military post, yet the site has special meaning due to its location and history.
The international date line and only 3 miles (less than 5 kilometers) separate Alaska from Russia at its closest point.
During the Cold War, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was essential to the fight against the Soviet Union. It still has an impact today, as the base’s jets continue to intercept Russian planes that frequently enter American territory.
