US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday at a high-stakes summit in Alaska, a bold and controversial diplomatic move that could shape the course of the war in Ukraine and redraw global alliances.
The meeting marks Putin’s first visit to Western soil since ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and seen recent battlefield gains by Russian forces.
Trump extended the invitation after Putin reportedly proposed the meeting, but the US president has since struck a cautious tone, warning that the summit “could be over in minutes” if Putin refuses to compromise.
“This is a feel-out meeting,” Trump said at the White House on Thursday. “If it’s a bad meeting, it’ll end very quickly. If it’s a good one, we could get peace in the pretty near future.”
Trump gave the summit a 25% chance of failure but promised that any agreement would ultimately require a three-way negotiation involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky, notably excluded from the talks, has rejected Trump’s calls to cede territory occupied by Russia and denounced the summit as a “personal victory” for Putin.
The Ukrainian leader also accused Trump of legitimizing Russian aggression, saying, “With this trip, Putin is stepping out of isolation and delaying the full impact of sanctions.”
European allies, equally sidelined, are watching closely. The summit is being viewed as a test of Trump’s negotiating credibility — and a potential pivot away from years of transatlantic unity on Ukraine.
The meeting, set for 11:30 a.m. Friday at Elmendorf Air Force Base — the largest US military installation in Alaska and a Cold War-era hub for Soviet surveillance — underscores both the symbolism and tension of the moment.
Adding historical weight: the US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, a fact the Kremlin has invoked in recent years as it pushes narratives defending land annexation.
Putin and Trump are expected to begin with a one-on-one session (with interpreters) before moving to a working lunch with senior aides. Neither leader is expected to enter nearby Anchorage, where protesters have displayed banners of solidarity with Ukraine.
Despite an active arrest warrant for Putin from the International Criminal Court, his presence in Alaska is legally permissible — the US is not a signatory to the ICC. Trump’s administration has temporarily eased travel sanctions to allow senior Russian officials access to the summit, including the use of payment systems in Alaska.
Trump’s warm words for Putin in the past — including during their 2018 Helsinki summit, where Trump appeared to side with the Russian president over US intelligence — have drawn sharp criticism. Yet, Trump insists he now takes a tougher stance.
“I’m president, and he’s not going to mess around with me,” he told reporters.
While Trump has long claimed he could end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” efforts to engage Putin — including a tense Oval Office meeting with Zelensky in February — have yielded no signs of progress from Moscow.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has advocated for security guarantees for Ukraine, but Trump has downplayed the idea in his second term, emphasizing “peace through strength” over multilateral frameworks.
Former US diplomat Daniel Fried, now with the Atlantic Council, warned that Putin may attempt to manipulate Trump with vague proposals.
“Putin is a master of the ‘new shiny object’ — ideas that seem promising but turn out to be meaningless,” Fried said. “Trump does have leverage, but using it effectively requires discipline.”
As the world watches, the Alaska summit could either jumpstart a new phase of diplomacy — or become another flashpoint in a war with no clear end in sight.
AFP
