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President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a historic summit Friday in Alaska.
The president will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday morning for the meeting, which is somewhat equidistant from both Washington, D.C., and Moscow. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867.
The high-stakes meeting is the first U.S.-Russia summit since June 2021, which was under former President Joe Biden’s administration. That summit came just eight months before Putin invaded Ukraine.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT TRUMP’S MEETING WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN IN ALASKA
Trump has described the talks as a “feel-out meeting,” and has made clear that his top priority will be to determine whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is possible. Trump predicted earlier this week that he would be able to make that determination within the first “two minutes.”
“I’m not going to make a deal. It’s not up to me to make a deal,” Trump said. “I think a deal should be made for both (Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy).”
“I’d like to see a ceasefire,” Trump continued. “I’d like to see the best deal that could be made for both parties. You know, it takes two to tango.”
However, the president threatened “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin does not agree to end the war after Friday’s meeting. Additionally, while all eyes are on the summit between Trump and Putin, Trump said “the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we’re having.”
“We’re going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelenskyy, myself, and maybe we’ll bring some of the European leaders — maybe not … It’s going to be very important.”
“We’re going to see what happens,” Trump continued. “And I think President Putin will make peace.”
The day before the summit, Trump predicted that his meeting with Putin had a 25% chance of failing outright, but he said the hope is to push for a second meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“This meeting sets up the second meeting,” Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, adding that the second meeting would be “extremely important,” and hinted that there would likely be negotiations over land swaps, a notion Zelenskyy has opposed.
COULD TRUMP’S MEETING WITH PUTIN BE THE NEXT REAGAN-GORBACHEV MOMENT?
Zelenskyy is not a part of Friday’s summit. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was agreeing to the meeting at the request of Putin.
“The goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war,” Leavitt said at a recent White House press briefing. “I think the president of the United States getting in the room with the president of Russia, sitting face-to-face rather than speaking over the telephone will give this president the best indication of how to end this war and where this is headed.”
However, Zelenskyy has maintained that any decisions to end the war made without Ukraine would be impossible.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he is open to meeting with Putin directly to end the war, though Putin has thus far refused.
PUTIN PRAISES TRUMP’S ‘SINCERE’ PEACE EFFORTS, SIGNALS POSSIBLE US-RUSSIA NUCLEAR DEAL
“Any decisions made against us, any decisions made without Ukraine — they are simultaneously decisions against peace,” Zelenskyy said in a Saturday statement. “These are dead decisions; they will never work. And what we all need is a real, living peace, one that people will respect.”
However, as recently as Wednesday, Zelenskyy said there is “no sign” Russia is preparing to end the war.
The Ukrainian leader wrote on X Wednesday, saying, “This war must be ended. Pressure must be exerted on Russia for the sake of a just peace. Ukraine’s and our partners’ experience must be used to prevent deception by Russia.”
“At present, there is no sign that the Russians are preparing to end the war,” he added. “Our coordinated efforts and joint actions — of Ukraine, the United States, Europe, and all countries that seek peace — can definitely compel Russia to make peace.”
ZELENSKYY, AHEAD OF TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING, SAYS THERE IS ‘NO SIGN’ RUSSIA WANTS TO END THE WAR
Zelenskyy also wrote on X recently, “The path to peace for Ukraine must be determined together with Ukraine — this is fundamental.”
“It is important that joint approaches and a shared vision work toward genuine peace. A consolidated position. Ceasefire. End of occupation. End of war,” he also said.
Zelenskyy this week also said he discussed the possibility of holding high-level talks organized by Turkey, which has hosted previous diplomatic negotiations that have failed to secure any lasting ceasefire agreements, but have released thousands of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war.
“We are ready for any format of meeting aimed at stopping the killings and ending the war,” Zelenksyy said. “President Erdogan confirmed his country’s readiness to organize a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, Russia, and Turkey.”
Putin, though, has praised Trump for making “sincere efforts” to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, saying that the U.S. was making “quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” according to Reuters.
Putin also reportedly mentioned possible future “agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.”
Russia and the U.S. hold the world’s largest nuclear weapons arsenals and have a treaty limiting the number of weapons they may possess, which is set to expire in February, adding more pressure to the upcoming talks. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty covers strategic nuclear weapons and caps the number of deployed warheads at 1,550 on each side, according to Reuters.
There has already been some nuclear tension between the two nations in recent weeks, as Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to move closer to Russia after the country’s former president made “highly provocative statements.” The Kremlin downplayed the move but warned all sides to be “very, very careful” about nuclear rhetoric, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, reporters pressed Trump on Thursday, the day before the summit, on whether his agreement to meet with Putin could end up “rewarding” the Russian president for his invasion of Ukraine.
Trump scoffed at the question, and said: “No. I don’t think it’s a reward.”
“What we have is a situation that should have never started — it should have never started,” Trump said. “It didn’t start under me. And for four years, it wasn’t even discussed. And I could see it was going to happen. After I left, I could see what was happening. Everything we did was wrong, everything that was done was wrong. Everybody’s to blame. Putin is to blame. They’re all to blame.”
“This war would have never happened when I was president. If I were president, this war would have never happened,” Trump continued. “But millions of people have been killed and, I’m there for one reason: to see if I can solve this. This was Biden’s war.”
Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall, Greg Norman and Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
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