Amid the ongoing war with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to embark on a rare and complex journey to Alaska in mid-August to meet his US counterpart, Donald Trump, for peace talks to end hostilities in Ukraine.
The August 15 meeting is much-anticipated as the world watches two nuclear giants come together, aiming to resolve a long-standing fight in the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is unlikely to attend the meeting. Meanwhile, Trump has announced that the Ukrainian President would be the first person he could call after the meeting. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO countries and their allies shut down their airspace that used to connect Russia to the West.
The United States, Canada, UK, Norway, and most of Europe have banned Russian planes from their airspace, expressing their strong opposition against the invasion of Ukraine. In a tit-for-tat move, Russia banned flights from over 30 nations. Notably, this has prompted Putin’s aircraft to avoid the entire Western Hemisphere’s main flight routes, turning what should have been a straightforward journey into a high-stakes navigation.
How will Putin reach Alaska?
Due to extensive airspace bans imposed by NATO and allied countries, the Russian President’s flight path has been forced to circumvent much of the Western hemisphere. According to a report by Times Now, Putin’s aircraft will be utilising a narrow corridor over the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska, after the US government granted a rare and carefully negotiated airspace permit.
Why Putin and Trump are poised for a meet?
According to media reports, US President Donald Trump is frustated after the August 8 meeting did not yeild any results. As a presidential candidate, Trump had repeatedly argued that the war “would never have happened in the first place” if he was the president during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He had also pledged that he would end the war within 24 hours of assuming office.