Alaska Summit: Trump to meet Putin, says talks have 25% chance of failing

US President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for the first time in seven years, with Ukraine peace efforts and European security high on the agenda

US President Donald Trump will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday in a rare face-to-face summit aimed at discussing the war in Ukraine. Trump has said he believes Putin is ready to make a deal to end the conflict — a meeting that could shape both the future of the war and Europe’s security.

 

Here are top updates on the Trump-Putin Alaska summit

 

1. Putin will arrive in Alaska on Friday at Trump’s invitation. This is his first trip to the United States since launching the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has killed tens of thousands. It will also be the first Trump-Putin meeting in seven years.

 

2. A day before the summit, Trump said he would not be pressured by Putin and would avoid sealing any agreement before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a separate three-way discussion.   

 

  3. Speaking at the White House, Trump said, "I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me... I'll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes... whether or not we're going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting."

He added, "If it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly, and if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future." Trump estimated there was a 25 per cent chance the summit could fail.

 

4. Trump said he believes Putin is travelling to Anchorage with the intent to end the war. "I believe now he's convinced that he's going to make a deal... And we're going to find out — I'm going to know very quickly," he said.

 

5. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has not been invited to the Alaska talks. He criticised the move as a reward for Putin and rejected Trump’s calls to give up Ukrainian territory.

 

6. Trump said he hopes to meet Zelensky soon after the Alaska summit and is considering a three-way meeting either in Alaska or at other possible venues. "Three different locations" are on the table, he said.

 

7. Trump told Fox News Radio that the next meeting could be decisive. "The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal... to a certain extent, it's not a bad term," he said.   

 

  8. Trump warned that Russia would face “very severe consequences” if Putin refused to agree to a ceasefire.

 

9. At the start of his second term, Trump was conciliatory toward Putin. But after Putin rejected Trump’s proposal for an unconditional truce, Trump has become increasingly critical of him, accusing the Russian leader of dragging out the war.

 

10. Putin, speaking after a meeting with Russian officials, praised Trump’s push for peace. In a Kremlin video, he said the Trump administration was making “energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities and to reach agreements that are of interest to all parties". He also hinted that a broader deal, including nuclear arms control, could secure lasting peace between the US, Russia, and Europe.

 

(With agency inputs)