A historic summit is set to be held between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Though specifics on the summit like the time and exact location remain unknown, all eyes will be on the talks as world leaders wait to see what, if anything, can be accomplished in Putin’s first trip to the U.S. in a decade.
Here’s what we know:
VLADIMIR PUTIN TO RETURN TO US FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that Trump will travel to Anchorage on Friday morning for what she described as a “listening exercise” with Putin.
Trump, who on Monday described the talks as a “feel-out meeting,” has made clear that his chief agenda item will be to determine whether a ceasefire in Ukraine is even possible.
When pressed by reporters this week as to what he specifically hopes to achieve from the in-person talks with Putin — particularly following seemingly positive calls that only resulted in a “frustrated” Trump and continued Russian bombardment in Ukraine — the president was light on specifics.
Though he told reporters that he thinks he will know whether a ceasefire deal with Putin is even possible within the first “two minutes.”
“I’m not going to make a deal. It’s not up to me to make a deal,” he said. “I think a deal should be made for both [Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy].
“I’d like to see a ceasefire. I’d like to see the best deal that could be made for both parties. You know, it takes two to tango,” he added.
TRUMP GOES AFTER ZELENSKYY OVER ‘LAND SWAPPING’ DISPUTE, LAYS OUT ‘FEEL OUT MEETING’ WITH PUTIN
Trump has raised geopolitical eyebrows over the last week when he suggested there would be a land “swap” that Russia and Ukraine would need to agree to.
While it remains unclear which borders he thinks will likely be moved around, particularly which Russian borders he foresees Putin handing over to Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his allies in NATO have made clear any deal forged without Ukraine will not be acceptable.
Zelenskyy over the weekend reiterated that he cannot unilaterally agree to cede territory illegally occupied by Russia without a national referendum under Ukraine’s Constitution.
“Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace,” he added. “They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work.”
Following a meeting with top EU officials on Monday, chief diplomat for the EU Kaja Kallas told Fox News Digital, “Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign nation is under attack, as well as the security of our European continent.”
“As far as Russia has not agreed to full and unconditional ceasefire, we should not even discuss any concessions,” she said. “It has never worked in the past with Russia, and will not work with Putin today.
Trump, who is slated to hold talks with Ukraine and NATO allies on Wednesday, said he will first call Zelenskyy following his talks with Putin, followed by calls to European leaders.
Though geographically speaking, Anchorage is a near equal distance from Moscow and Washington, D.C., the president prompted surprise when he said Putin had agreed to meet him in Alaska rather than a third-party state, like Switzerland or Hungary, both of which were floated as potential meeting locations.
However, both locations held dubious optics, as Switzerland, a member of the International Criminal Court, could be obligated to act on the 2023 ICC arrest warrant issued against Putin, and Hungary, though frequently seen as sympathetic to Russia, is a NATO member state.
“They probably avoided Europe, because if they included Europe, then Europe would have demanded that they’re actually at the table,” Dan Hoffman, former CIA Moscow Station Chief, told Fox News Digital. “Probably your two choices were go to Russia — which Trump would never do — or invite him here.
“It also exposes the challenge that you can’t solve this without Ukraine and without Europe,” he added.
But Alaska also has a shared history with the U.S., which Washington purchased from Saint Petersburg — then the capital of Russia — in 1867.
Though this shared past was championed by some in Russia and the U.S., like the Kremlin’s special economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who called it the “perfect stage” for the Putin-Trump talks, others took to social media to suggest it showed the precarious nature of sovereign borders.
ZELENSKYY TELLS PUTIN TO ‘BE BRAVE’ AND FINALLY AGREE TO TRILATERAL MEETING WITH TRUMP
Zelenskyy does not appear to have been officially invited to the talks, which the White House on Tuesday confirmed are the result of a direct invitation from Putin.
“The president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of President Putin,” Leavitt said Tuesday. “And the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war.”
Zelenskyy is set to hold talks with the U.S. president ahead of the high-level bilateral meeting on Wednesday alongside other European leaders.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly said he is open to meeting with Putin directly to end the war, though Putin has thus far refused.
Trump on Monday said his goal is that following his meeting with Putin, the Kremlin chief will sit down with Zelenskyy to begin hashing out terms for a ceasefire — whether or not it includes him in direct negotiations.
“Ultimately, I’m going to put the two of them in a room. I’ll be there, or I won’t be there,” Trump said Monday. “And I think it’ll get solved.”
Zelenskyy on Tuesday said he also 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 (POWs).
“We are ready for any format of meeting aimed at stopping the killings and ending the war,” Zelenksyy said. “President Erdoğan confirmed his country’s readiness to organize a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, the United States, Russia, and Türkiye.”
Experts have warned it is too soon to tell what could come out of the talks with Putin on Friday.
