©Kristina Kormilitsyna; RIA Novosti
The US is making a genuine effort to stop the fighting in Ukraine and reach agreements that would account for the interests of all parties involved, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
Putin is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss ways of ending the Ukraine conflict, as well as steps toward normalizing relations between Moscow and Washington.
On Thursday, Putin met with top government officials in Moscow to discuss the upcoming summit and “the stage where we are with the current US administration.”
He said that the American leadership is making “quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities” and working to “create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe, and in the world as a whole.” Putin added that this process could be further advanced if Russia and the US reach agreements on strategic offensive weapons control in the next stages of negotiations.
Among the officials present at Thursday’s meeting were Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, all of whom will be traveling to Alaska on Friday to take part in the Putin-Trump summit.
According to the Kremlin, the event will begin with a one-on-one conversation between the two leaders, followed by a meeting of the Russian and US delegations.
Trump has described the summit as a “feel-out meeting” that will help him determine whether the Ukraine conflict can be resolved. He has said that if the talks go well, he may seek a second round of negotiations involving Putin and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Trump will pursue all possible options for a peaceful end to the conflict during his meeting with Putin. She added that the US president would prefer not to impose any new sanctions on Russia but instead resolve the situation through diplomacy.
The Putin-Trump Alaska summit: What you need to know
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on Friday in Alaska.
The summit is expected to focus on seeking a resolution to the Ukraine conflict, as well as broader Russia-US bilateral relations.
Here is what you need to know.
1. Closest US state to Russia
The meeting will take place in the state of Alaska, the edge of which lies just a few dozen miles across the Bering Strait from the Russian border.
The meeting will begin on Friday morning at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, presidential foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told journalists on Thursday.
A number of Soviet pilots, servicemen, and civilians who died during the Second World War while ferrying planes under the Lend-Lease agreement are buried near the US military base, he said. The area is a “historically important place, a reminder of the military brotherhood of the peoples of our countries,” the Kremlin aide noted.
2. Face-to-face meeting
The summit will open with a one-on-one conversation between Putin and Trump, accompanied by their translators, according to Ushakov. The talks will then continue between the Russian and US delegations in a five-on-five format, he said.
The Kremlin and the White House initially confirmed that the two leaders are expected to speak at a joint press conference following the negotiations. Trump later told Fox News Radio that if the meeting goes badly, he would speak to journalists alone.
3. High-level delegations
Moscow’s team will include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev, as well as Ushakov himself, the Kremlin aide said. Experts will also be present at the summit.
He noted that Russia has been informed of which officials will be in the US delegation, but declined to name them ahead of an official statement from Washington.
4. Trump’s team has yet to be announced.
Peace talks and more The central issue of the summit is expected to be the Ukraine conflict. Trade and economic issues, and other bilateral cooperation will also be discussed, according to the Kremlin.
Putin said on Thursday during a meeting with members of the Russian delegation that Trump’s administration was making “quite energetic and sincere efforts” to end the crisis and “create long-term conditions for peace between our countries.”
The Kremlin indicated on Thursday that no documents are expected to be signed as a result of the meeting.
Trump has described the summit as a “feel-out meeting” intended to help him better understand Putin’s position. He has also suggested that any potential settlement in Ukraine could involve territorial exchanges with Russia, and has dismissed Ukrainian reservations about such swaps.
Neither Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky nor leaders from Western European nations have been invited to the talks.
5. The lead up
The summit was organized in short order after a visit by Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow last week. Trump had long promised to end the hostilities but has increasingly expressed discontent with the pace of Russian-Ukrainian talks.
The Kremlin earlier indicated that Witkoff had brought to Moscow an “acceptable” offer from Washington.
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