When President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin land in Alaska Friday for his or her high-stakes dialogue in regards to the warfare in Ukraine, the 2 leaders will deliver differing concepts about ending the warfare that Russia started over three years in the past. On the similar time, Ukraine might be watching from the skin with European allies, hoping that Mr. Trump is defending their pursuits.
Their conferences are anticipated to be capped by a uncommon joint information convention with the 2 world leaders — the primary such occasion of its form since their 2018 summit in Helsinki, when Mr. Trump sided with Putin over his personal intelligence companies about Russian interference within the 2016 election.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
Mr. Trump has tried to decrease expectations going into the assembly, telling reporters the day earlier than, “all I wish to do is about the desk for the following assembly, which ought to occur shortly.” The following assembly is an thought he has been floating this week, and he mentioned it will additionally embrace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and maybe different allies. The president raised the chance that Zelenskyy might even be part of them in Alaska inside a few days.
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to talks with Putin as “a listening train” for Mr. Trump and mentioned his objective “is to stroll away with a greater understanding of how we are able to finish this warfare.”
There are a selection of questions going into the summit — chief amongst them is what Russia desires, and whether or not there is a method to reconcile its calls for with what Ukraine desires. U.S. and Russian counterparts have been talking, and Mr. Trump and Putin have had their very own cellphone conversations.
In March, Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire proposal backed by the U.S., and months later, in Could, when the Kremlin had nonetheless not accepted the phrases, Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the U.S. was attempting to determine if Russia was simply “tapping us alongside.”
By July, casualties had been mounting in Ukraine as Russia stepped up its bombing marketing campaign with a whole lot of missile and drone strikes. Mr. Trump gave Putin a 50-day deadline to comply with a deal to finish the warfare, and later shortened it to a 10-day deadline, threatening harsher tariffs and secondary sanctions. Dmitri Medvedev, the previous president of Russia, responded by mocking Mr. Trump on X. “Every new ultimatum is a menace and a step in the direction of warfare,” he mentioned, warning that it will not be “between Russia and Ukraine, however with [Trump’s] personal nation.”
However a day earlier than the president’s 10-day deadline expired — and after Putin had met with U.S. particular envoy Steve Witkoff — the Kremlin introduced that Putin and Mr. Trump would meet.
Mr. Trump on Wednesday mentioned there can be “very extreme penalties” for Russia if it does not agree to finish the warfare after Friday’s assembly, although he declined to elaborate.
Zelenskyy and European companions met nearly with Mr. Trump Wednesday, after which Zelenskyy wrote on X: “Along with our companions, we supported the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump to finish the warfare, cease the killings, and obtain a simply and lasting peace. I’m grateful to the companions for our shared place: the trail to peace.”
European leaders have been cautious of the Trump-Putin assembly. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk mentioned Wednesday of the summit, “Crucial factor is that Europe convinces Donald Trump that one cannot belief Russia,” including, “nobody ought to consider recognizing Russia’s proper to demarcate borders for its neighbors.” Zelenskyy will not be there to characterize Ukraine’s pursuits, and Mr. Trump has proven he is typically reluctant to criticize Putin.
What Russia desires
Specialists say Putin has a number of targets that will not be shared by the U.S. and Ukraine, and Mr. Trump should train warning.
Putin would like to see the U.S. discontinue its monetary assist for Ukraine, mentioned Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Basis for Protection of Democracies’ Heart on Army and Political Energy.
“He desires to sideline the ability of america in order that he can extra successfully prey on Ukraine,” Bowman mentioned, including that on the similar time, Putin will “attempt to make the invaded appear to be the villain.” Whereas Mr. Trump goals to finish the warfare Russia started, Putin is prone to attempt to seize on Mr. Trump’s need for peace.
“‘He will attempt to achieve Trump’s assist for a nasty peace,” Bowman mentioned, including, “Some peace agreements are dangerous as a result of they result in extra warfare.”
John Lough, an affiliate fellow within the Russia and Eurasia program and the British think-tank Chatham Home, predicted that Russia would “put one thing in entrance of [Trump] that he’ll purchase into and say, ‘This can be a manner out of the warfare, and I like that, and I am now ready to go lean on the Ukrainians once more and the Europeans and we’ll get this over the road.'”
However Lough additionally believes that for Russia, the assembly is “excessive danger.”
“They could not get what they need, however they’ll on the very least be hoping that it guides the form of subsequent section of the method of getting Ukraine to the desk, and, I suppose, conducting the negotiations inside a framework with which that comes,” Lough mentioned.
Russia, Lough mentioned, desires “to get the framework of the peace settlement settled after which speak about a ceasefire, whereas Ukraine, its allies and, to a level, President Trump has mentioned, ‘No, we begin with a stop fireplace after which we construct round that.'”
Graphic by GUILLERMO RIVAS PACHECO,JEAN-MICHEL CORNU/AFP by way of Getty Photos 
Daniel Fried, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland and former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, thinks Putin might attempt to insert a wedge between the U.S. and its allies.
“He desires to get out of this assembly with none price and to slice away on the American place and perhaps draw Trump out so that there is a hole between him and Zelenskyy, Trump and the Europeans,” Fried mentioned in a press name Wednesday.
After Mr. Trump’s extra skeptical feedback about Putin because the assembly was scheduled, Fried mentioned, “I’m much less fearful about that than I used to be three days in the past.”
Fried, who’s now a fellow on the Atlantic Council, mentioned that for Putin, an important end result can be to “dazzle” Mr. Trump with a pretend supply and to stroll away with a giant smile.
At talks in June, the Kremlin offered a memorandum providing Ukraine two choices for a 30-day ceasefire, which might give some perception into Putin’s maximalist calls for.
The primary would have required Ukraine to withdraw its forces from 4 areas illegally annexed by Russia, however which Russia by no means totally managed: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The second choice concerned a variety of situations together with a requirement that Ukraine wind down its navy effort, stop receiving navy support, exclude any worldwide navy forces from its territory, elevate martial legislation after which swiftly maintain an election.
As a part of a peace treaty, Russia mentioned it will require worldwide recognition of Russian sovereignty over some Ukrainian territories it at present occupies, together with Donbas and Crimea, and a pledge by Ukraine to not be part of any navy alliances — an finish to its efforts to affix NATO — or permit any overseas militaries to function or have bases in its territory.
Russia additionally mentioned it will desire a cap on the power of Ukraine’s armed forces and for Russian to grow to be an official language in Ukraine.
Wendy Sherman, a former deputy secretary of state who has sat throughout from Putin earlier than, mentioned the Russian chief has no actual curiosity in ending this warfare — he’s merely “shopping for time.”
“That is President Putin’s assembly,” Sherman instructed CBS Information Wednesday. “He actually is in command of this assembly. He requested for it. The president, I feel, was flattered to have this assembly. However Putin has little interest in ending this warfare. He’s very good, he’s very cagey.”
What Ukraine desires
Ukraine desires an finish to Russia’s assault and its full withdrawal from their territory.
“There have to be an sincere finish to the warfare. And it will depend on Russia,” Zelenskyy mentioned on social media earlier this month. “It’s Russia that should finish the warfare it began.”
Mr. Trump mentioned earlier this week {that a} ceasefire settlement between Russia and Ukraine would contain “some land swapping occurring. I do know that via Russia and thru conversations with all people. To the nice, for the nice of Ukraine. Good things, not dangerous stuff. Additionally, some dangerous stuff for each.”
That prompted a response from Zelenskyy, who mentioned Ukraine wouldn’t hand over any of its territory to Russia. Ukraine’s structure doesn’t permit him to formally cede elements of the nation.
“We won’t reward Russia for what it has perpetrated,” Zelenskyy mentioned in a social media put up final weekend. “The reply to the Ukrainian territorial query already is within the Structure of Ukraine. Nobody will deviate from this — and nobody will be capable of. Ukrainians won’t reward their land to the occupier.”
Regardless of such statements, John Herbst, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Heart, mentioned Zelenskyy has demonstrated he is keen to compromise.
“There is no such thing as a doubt in my thoughts that Zelenskyy understands that territorial concessions could also be required to get a sturdy peace,” Herbst mentioned.
One other main concern is whether or not Putin, together with his deep data of Ukraine, might attempt to manipulate Mr. Trump, mentioned former intelligence official Andrea Kendall-Taylor, who specialised in Russian affairs.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova instructed CBS Information that “all of us perceive the fact on the bottom, and we’re prepared to debate how one can finish this warfare.” She added, “Let’s cease the killings, and let’s get to diplomacy.”
Ukraine and Russia’s troubled historical past
Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union earlier than voting for independence in 1991.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, the NATO alliance expanded eastward, including former Soviet republics together with Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, and it established an in depth partnership with Ukraine. In 2008, the alliance declared its intention for Ukraine to affix NATO in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned on quite a few events that he views NATO’s enlargement as a menace to Russia. He has additionally mentioned that he believes Ukraine to be a part of Russia politically, culturally and linguistically.
Some Ukrainians, primarily in japanese areas, are Russian-speaking and really feel extra carefully aligned with Russia than the nation of Ukraine. However the majority of Ukrainians converse Ukrainian, really feel a deep patriotic connection to Ukraine and have favored creating nearer ties to Europe.
Widespread protests erupted in Ukraine in 2014 when the pro-Russian president on the time refused to signal an EU affiliation settlement. The general public outrage compelled him from workplace — an obvious victory for Ukrainians who favored nearer ties to Europe. However shortly after, Russia annexed Crimea, a peninsula that was internationally acknowledged as a part of Ukraine, and the Kremlin supported a pro-Russian separatist rebel in Ukraine’s east.
In 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, attacking cities throughout the nation, together with the capital, Kyiv. Some anticipated Russia to rapidly take over, however Ukrainians fought onerous to defend themselves, Russian good points largely stagnated behind entrance strains within the east, and the warfare has raged on ever since.
