U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepared Friday for a summit in Alaska that could reshape Ukraine’s war, redraw regional alliances, and test global diplomacy.
Trump insisted he would not be intimidated by Putin, asserting that Ukraine would have a role in any deal about its future. “I am president, and he's not going to mess around with me,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “I’ll know within the first two, three, four minutes... whether we’re going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting. If it’s a good meeting, we’re going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future.”
For Putin, the summit marks his first visit to a Western country since ordering the 2022 invasion of Ukraine – a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. The Kremlin said the two leaders would meet one-on-one, fueling fears among European leaders that Putin could press Trump into a settlement imposing territorial concessions on Kyiv.
Trump, however, promised not to negotiate alone. He hopes to hold a subsequent three-way summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, describing it as potentially more important than his initial encounter with Putin. “The second meeting is going to be very, very important... that’s where they make a deal,” Trump said, adding he did not want to use the word “divvy,” though he acknowledged the concept of dividing territories might be necessary to break the stalemate.
