Trump, Putin Head to Alaska for Ukraine War Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US President Donald Trump has taken off from Andrews airbase outside Washington, D.C., for Anchorage, Alaska, for a summit with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Their meeting is scheduled to begin at 11:30 am (19:30 GMT) and will be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
The two leaders will meet to discuss an end to the more than three-year war in Ukraine in what will be their first standalone summit since 2018 in Helsinki.
Trump and Putin are expected to be accompanied by high-powered delegations when they meet in Alaska.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Fox and Friends show on Fox News that the two leaders would meet one-on-one first, followed by a lunch with their delegations.
Trump has said he would like to see a second meeting in Alaska “soon” between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was not invited to today’s talks.
Trump said he will let Ukraine decide whether to engage in territorial swaps with Russia, and his goal was to get the two sides to start a negotiation.
He added that the Russian offensive in Ukraine was likely aimed at helping to strengthen Putin’s hand in any negotiations to end the war.
The US president said he expected his meeting with Putin to produce results, given the stakes involved and weakness in the Russian economy, Al Jazeera reported.
Zelenskyy has said that Russia should face new sanctions if it does not agree to an “immediate ceasefire”.
