Trump will meet Putin in Alaska – Here’s what we know

A historic summit should be held between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Although details on the summit as the time and the exact location remain unknown, all eyes will be on talks while world leaders are waiting to see what, if necessary, can be accomplished during Putin’s first trip to the United States in a decade.

Here is what we know:

President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque)

Vladimir Putin return home for the first time in a decade

AGENDA

The white house press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that Trump will go to Anchorage Friday morning for what she described as a “listening exercise” with Putin.

Trump, who described talks on Monday as a “sensation meeting”, clearly said that his main agenda will be to determine if a cease-fire in Ukraine is even possible.

When he was pressed by journalists this week as to what he hopes specifically to make from talks in person with Putin – in particular to follow apparently positive calls which led to a “frustrated” asset and a continuous Russian bombardment in Ukraine – the president was light on details.

Although he told journalists that he thinks he will know if a ceasefire agreement with Putin is even possible in the first “two minutes”.

“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.

Trump attacks Zelenskyy on the “land exchange” dispute, presents “ feeling meeting “with Putin

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet during the Sommet des heads of state and the NATO government in Hague, the Netherlands on June 25, 2025. (Getty Images)

Expectations

Trump raised geopolitical eyebrows in the last week when he suggested that there would be a terrestrial “exchange” that Russia and Ukraine should accept.

Although it is not clear which borders he thinks will probably be moved, in particular which Russian borders he plans to hand over Putin to kyiv, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his allies in NATO have clearly made any agreement forged without Ukraine will not be acceptable.

On weekends, Zelenskyy reiterated that he could not unilaterally accept to yield the territory illegally occupied by Russia without national referendum under the Constitution of Ukraine.

“All decisions without Ukraine are decisions against peace at the same time,” he added. “They will do nothing. These are dead decisions. They will never work.”

Following a meeting with senior EU officials on Monday, the EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas told Fox News Digital: “Ukraine’s right to exist as a sovereign nation is attacked, as well as the security of our European continent”.

“Regarding Russia, has not accepted the complete and unconditional ceasefire, we must not even discuss concessions,” she said. “It has never worked in the past with Russia and will not work with Putin today.

Trump, who should organize talks with Ukraine and NATO allies said on Wednesday, said he will first call Zelenskyy following his talks with Putin, followed by calls to European leaders.

French president Emmanuel Macron, president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the secretary general of NATO, Mark Rutte, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (G7) Summit at Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, Canada on June 17, 2025. (Ludovic Marin / AFP via Getty Images)

The EU strikes Trump, Zelenskyy comments, no concessions in Ukraine before the ceasefire agreement of Putin

Why Alaska

Although geographically speaking, Anchorage is an almost equal distance from Moscow and Washington, DC, the president aroused surprise when he said that Putin had agreed to meet him in Alaska rather than a third state, like Switzerland or Hungary, both floated as potential meeting places.

However, the two seated locations of dubious optics, because Switzerland, a member of the International Criminal Court, could be forced to act on the CPI 2023 arrest warrant issued against Putin, and Hungary, although frequently considered sympathetic to Russia, is a member state of NATO.

“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.

But Alaska also has a story shared with the United States, which Washington bought in Saint Petersburg – then the capital of Russia – in 1867.

Although this shared past was defended by some in Russia and the United States, such as the special economic sending of the Kremlin, Kirill Dmitriev, which called it the “perfect scene” for Putin-Trump discussions, others went to social networks to suggest that it showed the precarious nature of sovereign borders.

Anchorage, in Alaska, should receive both President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin for a high -level bilateral meeting on Friday August 15, 2025. (Zihao Chen via Getty Images)

Zelenskyy tells Putin to “be courageous” and finally agrees to meet trilateral with Trump

The role of Zelenskyy

Zelenskyy does not seem to have been officially invited to the talks, which the White House confirmed on Tuesday the result of a direct invitation from Putin.

“The president accepts this meeting at the request of President Putin,” Leavitt said on Tuesday. “And the objective of this meeting for the president is to leave with a better understanding of how we can put an end to this war.”

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy should speak with the American president before the high -level bilateral meeting alongside other European leaders.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that he was open to meeting Putin directly to end the war, although Putin has so far refused.

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 US President Trump at the touch of a meeting at the 6th summit of the European political community on May 16, 2025 in Skanderbeg Square. (Kuglersteffen / Bundesregierung via Getty Images)

What is the next step

Trump said on Monday that his goal was that after his meeting with Putin, the chief of the Kremlin sit with Zelenskyy to start chopping the conditions for a cease-fire-whether or not it understands it in direct negotiations.

“In the end, I will put them in a room. I will be there, or I will not be there,” said Trump on Monday. “And I think it’s going to be resolved.”

Click here to obtain the Fox News app

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he also discussed the possibility of holding high-level talks organized by Turkey, which welcomed previous diplomatic negotiations which did not obtain sustainable competitors of ceasefire, but who published thousands of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war (favorite pot).

“We are ready for any meeting format aimed at arresting the murders and ending the war,” said Zelenksyy. “President Erdoğan confirmed the preparation of his country to organize a summit of leaders of Ukraine, the United States, Russia and Türkiye.”

Experts warned that it was too early to say what could come out of talks with Putin on Friday.