US President Donald Trump has left for Alaska to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in a rare high-stakes summit focused on a Ukraine ceasefire. Talks will include one-on-one and delegation sessions before a joint press conference.
US President Donald Trump left Washington on Friday aboard Air Force One for a high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. The talks are expected to focus on a possible ceasefire deal in the Ukraine war. This is the first meeting between the two leaders in more than seven years, and it marks Putin’s first visit to the United States in a decade as well as the first visit by a Russian leader to Alaska.
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Trump’s remarks before departure
Speaking before leaving, Trump said, “We get along. Putin is ‘interested in the Trump economy’, he is ‘bringing a lot of business people from Russia’ and ‘wants a piece’ of the American economy, which is good because they want to do business.” He added that business ties with Russia, however, would only be discussed if progress was made in ending the war. “They are not doing business until they get the war stopped,” he said. Trump expressed optimism, saying, “Something is going to come of it,” but stressed that Ukraine must decide its own territorial issues.
On the fighting in Ukraine, Trump said, “Putin thinks that gives him strength in talks, I think it hurts him,” adding that Russia might be ready to negotiate. He warned there could be “severe consequences” if talks failed.
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Delegations and schedule
Trump is accompanied by senior US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. On social media, Trump called the trip ‘High stakes!!!’
The Kremlin announced that the summit would start at 11:30 am local time at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base (1 am IST). It will begin with a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin, followed by a delegation-level breakfast discussion, and end with a joint press conference.
Russian team and absence of European leaders
Putin’s delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders will not attend. Earlier this week, NATO and EU leaders held a video call with Trump and Zelenskyy, but they will not be present in Alaska.
(With agency inputs)