Putin will set foot on U.S. soil for the first time in a decade when he arrives Friday at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base in Anchorage. The location, once part of Russian territory, was chosen for the hastily arranged talks.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the leaders will meet one-on-one, though U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser are scheduled to be in Anchorage, alongside possible Russian counterparts Sergey Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov.
Trump plans to focus on the Ukraine war and bilateral ties, including restoring direct flights, but indicated the fate of Ukrainian children taken to Russia will be left for talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
He has floated the idea of a territorial exchange, saying front lines are “very uneven” and some changes could return land to Ukraine while acknowledging Russia holds “very attractive” areas. Vice President J.D. Vance suggested talks would start from current front lines, while Rubio said Trump’s goal was to gauge Putin’s intentions face-to-face.
The Wall Street Journal reported Putin has eased demands for Ukraine to cede all four annexed regions, now proposing withdrawal from Donetsk and Luhansk without fighting in exchange for a ceasefire, while keeping parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson under Russian control.
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Source: PAP