U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting on Friday, August 15th in Anchorage, Alaska, for a summit that could shape the future of Ukraine, but expectations of a breakthrough remain low.
The talks mark Putin’s first visit to Western soil since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
Russia’s recent battlefield gains give the Kremlin leader leverage, but the meeting comes amid heightened concerns in Kyiv and European capitals that Trump could pressure Ukraine into concessions.
Set to begin at 11:30 a.m. local time (21:30 CET) at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the summit will open with a one-on-one discussion between Trump and Putin, joined only by interpreters, before expanding to working sessions with aides and concluding with a press conference.
The location—a Cold War-era base once central to U.S. surveillance of the Soviet Union—underscores the symbolism of the encounter.
Trump has touted the summit as a “feel-out meeting,” warning it could end “within minutes” if Putin refuses compromise, but also dangling the prospect of “peace in the pretty near future.” The U.S. president gave the talks a one in four chance of outright failure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, excluded from Friday’s talks, has denounced the meeting as a “personal victory” for Putin and resisted Trump’s repeated calls to consider territorial concessions.
Kyiv insists on an unconditional ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and the return of Ukrainian children taken to Russia, while Moscow demands recognition of its annexations, an end to Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, and the lifting of Western sanctions.
Russia currently controls one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. It has full control of the Luhansk region as well as the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. Three other regions, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia are under partial Russian occupation.
In recent days, European leaders, such as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, have complained about Ukraine being locked out of the talks in Alaska. They have rejected potential territorial “swaps” touted by Trump, and have talked of “increasing pressure” on Russia if the negotiations are not fruitful.
But the fact remains that Western European leaders have done nothing in the past three years to try and secure peace, and unsurprisingly, they are now being left on the sidelines as Donald Trump takes the lead on negotiating with Russia.
While Europe and Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, have been obsessed with providing military assistance to Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” they have had no strategy on how to end the war, and have failed to engage in a dialogue with Moscow—something Trump is finally doing.
Trump, meanwhile, has hinted at a possible follow-up meeting in Alaska that would include Zelensky. “The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s where they make a deal,” he told Fox News Radio.
The second meeting is going to be very, very, very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game. This (first) meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25% chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting.
U.S. officials have also floated the possibility of new security guarantees for Ukraine, though Trump has signaled NATO itself would not be part of them.
Putin, who faces mounting economic pressure from sanctions, praised Trump’s “sincere efforts” to end hostilities.
The Kremlin has linked any ceasefire to curbs on Western arms supplies and Ukrainian mobilization —conditions Kyiv rejects. On Thursday, Putin raised the possibility of reviving nuclear arms control negotiations, offering Trump a parallel prize that could help both leaders claim success.
Despite the dramatic backdrop, few expect a definitive agreement on Friday. Whether the Alaska summit produces progress toward peace may become clear only in the days to come.
