Putin returns to America after 10 years for the historic summit of Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin returns to the United States for the first time in a decade when he met President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday.

Following the announcement of Trump last week that the pair would meet for a summit in person – marking the first time that an American president will meet Putin after having invaded Ukraine in 2022, less than a year after meeting Biden in 2021 in Geneva – several places were suspected as the most likely meeting places, including Hungary, Switzer, Italy and the United Arab Emirates.

It has been reported that Putin killed the idea of Italy, because she is considered favorable to Ukraine, and rather pushed for Hungary.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the right, and the president of the time, Barack Obama, share a toast during lunch at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 28, 2015. (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque)

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However, Trump surprised the nation when he announced on Friday that Putin would rather go to Alaska for his first American trip since he attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2015, when he met the then president Barack Obama.

Trump said on Monday that he thought he was “very respectful that the president of Russia came to our country rather than we go to his country or even a third party place”.

We do not know why a third -party nation like the United Arab Emirates has not been selected. Although the justification of the reasons why Hungary has not been selected – although it is directed by Viktor Orbán who is friendly with Putin and Trump – could be because he is a member of NATO and would probably prove to be controversial if a NATO ally hosts the chief of the Kremlin at a time when Europe has faced its biggest threat since the Second World War.

Likewise, the dubious perspective could be attributed not to welcome the meeting in Switzerland, who, although it is not an ally of NATO, is a member of the International Criminal Court who issued an arrest warrant against Putin in 2023 for accusations of war crimes.

President Donald Trump, on the left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the start of a meeting at the presidential palace in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. (AP photo / Pablo Martinez Monsivais, file)

“They probably avoided Europe because if they included Europe, then Europe would have demanded that they be really at the table,” said Dan Hoffman, former head of the Cia Moscow station, in Fox News Digital. “Probably your two choices were in Russia – which Trump would never do – or invite him here.

“This also exposes the challenge that you cannot solve this problem without Ukraine and Europe,” he added.

Although it is not clear where exactly the pair will meet, nor why Alaska finally landed, the republican senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, said that it was “another opportunity for the Arctic to serve as a place that brings the world leaders to forge significant agreements”.

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“Although I remain deeply suspicious of Putin and her regime, I hope that these discussions will lead to real progress and help put an end to war on fair terms,” she added, noting her concern when it comes to dealing with Putin.

Russian officials seemed to take a more optimistic tone on the site of the meeting when the special economic envoy of Russia, Kirill Dmitriev, adopted X to recognize the historical role that Alaska played in the Russian-US relationship.

“Born in Russian America – Orthodox, Strong roots, fur trade – Alaska echoes these links and made an Arctic Nation in the United States,” said Dmitriev, describing it later as the “perfect scene” for Reunion.

President Donald Trump, Center, is expressed with journalists from the James Brady Press news room at the White House, Monday, August 11, 2025, in Washington, DC (AP / Alex Brandon)

Hoffman argued that the location is not extremely significant and said: “What will be important is what they are talking about. The details of the meeting more than the place.

“No one can predict what will happen. I don’t even think Trump or Putin knows what will result,” he added, noting that there were too many variables to start predicting or analyzing any element of the upcoming talks.

Trump would not detail what he hopes specifically get out of talks with Putin on Friday, although he argued that he could say in the first “two minutes” if a cease-fire agreement in Ukraine was even possible.

“I will not conclude an agreement. It is not for me to conclude an agreement,” he said. I think that an agreement should be concluded for both (Putin and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy).

“I would like to see a ceasefire. I would like to see the best offer that could be made for both parties. You know, you need two in Tango,” he added.

From left to right, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, organize a telephone conversation with President Donald Trump on the touch of a meeting at the 6th summit of the European political community on May 16, 2025 in Skanderbeg Square Tirana, Albania. (Photo of Kuglersteffen / Bundesregierung via Getty Images)

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Trump said he would connect the details of the conversation to the leaders of Zelenskyy and Europe immediately after the meeting.

“We will see what he has in mind,” said Trump about his next meeting with the chief of the Kremlin. “And if it is a good deal, I will reveal it to the leaders of the European Union and the leaders of NATO, as well as to President Zelenskyy – I think I will call it first.

“I can say:” A lot of luck, keep fighting “or I can say:” We can conclude a “” concluded Trump.