Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska next week, says Trump

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin plan to meet Alaska, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Trump confirmed in Truth Social that the meeting will take place in Alaska on Friday, August 15.

A tall White House official told News themezone that next Friday’s summit is still fluid, and that it is still possible that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy can end up involved in some way.

The White House said earlier this week that Trump is open to meet with Putin and Zelenskyy, but Trump suggested on Friday that he could start by meeting with Putin, telling journalists to plan “start with Russia.” Trump also said he believes that “we have an opportunity to organize a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian and Russian leaders.

The Russian businessman and advisor to Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, acknowledged the planned meeting in an X publication that did not mention the Russian-Ukraine war. He suggested that the United States and Russia should “associate with the environment, infrastructure and energy in the Arctic and beyond.”

The expected meeting occurs when Trump presses Putin to reach a high fire agreement with Ukraine. It would be the first face to face between Putin and an American leader since former President Joe Biden met with his Russian counterpart in Switzerland in June 2021eight months before Russia launched its large -scale invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday, August 8 is the deadline imposed by Trump for Putin to reduce a high fire agreement or face strong sanctions aimed at the Russian economy, including Possible secondary sanctions in countries that do business with Russia. Mr. Trump Imposed 50% of rates About Indian goods earlier this week, partly because India buys oil from Russia.

The status of those additional sanctions is not clear.

“This is another opportunity for the Arctic to serve as a place that brings together world leaders to forge significant agreements,” wrote Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska in a social media post on Friday night on the meeting. “While I remain deeply cautious with Putin and his regime, I hope these discussions lead to genuine progress and help end war in equitable terms.”

Trump has frustrated Putin in recent weeks, since Russia has continued to attack Ukrainian cities with attacks with unmanned planes and missiles. Mr. Trump You have described some of your recent phone calls with the Russian president as disappointing.

The tone of the Trump administration seems to change in recent days. Mr. Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow for hours on Wednesday, which the president of the United States described as “very productive.” The White House and the Kremlin then indicated They were open to a Putin Trump summit.

The president told reporters on Friday: “President Putin, I think, wants to see peace, and Zelenskyy wants to see peace.”

But the real terms of any possible peace agreement are still clear. The Russian Army occupies great stripes of eastern Ukraine, including the two territories that it has captured since 2022 and those that annexed in a lesser intensity conflict that began in 2014.

Russian leadership has indicated in the past that he wants Ukraine to withdraw his own forces from the east of the country, possibly including areas that Russia has not even captured, and that he ends his long data thrust to join NATO. Zelenskyy has delayed those demands.

Trump said Friday that he expects “some exchange of territories” between Russia and Ukraine.

The president of the United States has blamed Zelenskyy and Putin in several points for a slow progress in a high fire agreement. Mr. Trump publicly argued With Zelenskyy In the Oval office earlier this year, and said that Zelenskyy was prolonging the conflict by refusing to give in the Crimean Peninsula to Russia. The Trump administration It also has arrested Military assistance to Ukraine at least twice, before restoring help shipments.

• Ukraine
• Donald Trump
• Russia
• Vladimir Putin
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