For the first time in over four years, sitting US and Russian presidents will meet face-to-face — this time at a US air base in Alaska on Friday — to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.
The meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin comes with high expectations but also deep skepticism, as Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on what peace should look like.
It will be Putin’s first visit to a Western country since launching the invasion in February 2022, and his first trip to the US in a decade.
Russia’s Position: Hardline Demands and Sanctions Relief
For Putin, the summit is a chance to push his June draft peace plan, which Ukraine has outright rejected. The plan demands that Kyiv withdraw from four regions Russia claims to have annexed — Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk — halt military mobilisation, abandon NATO ambitions, and see Western nations stop supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Moscow also insists on protecting the “rights and freedoms” of Russian speakers, banning what it calls the “glorification of Nazism,” and having Western sanctions lifted.
Ukraine dismisses Russia’s accusations of Nazism as absurd and says it already guarantees rights for Russian-speaking citizens.
Ukraine’s Stance: Ceasefire, Security Guarantees, and Return of Children
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will not attend the Alaska summit, calling it a “personal victory” for Putin but warning that no agreement can be reached without Ukraine’s involvement.
Kyiv’s conditions for talks include an unconditional ceasefire on land, sea, and air; the release of all prisoners of war; and the return of thousands of Ukrainian children it says Russia illegally relocated and placed into Russian families.
Ukraine insists on strong, enforceable security guarantees to deter future Russian aggression and says any sanctions relief for Moscow must be gradual, with mechanisms to reimpose them if needed.
Trump’s Goal: Ceasefire, But Few Concessions So Far
Trump, who once vowed to end the war “within 24 hours” of taking office, has yet to secure major concessions from the Kremlin despite repeated calls with Putin and several trips to Moscow by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
The Alaska summit offers his first in-person opportunity to broker a deal. On Wednesday, he warned Russia of “very severe consequences” if it did not halt its offensive, but the White House tempered expectations, calling the meeting a “listening exercise.”
Trump initially floated the idea of “land swapping” but appeared to walk back the comment after speaking with European leaders. He now says he wants a ceasefire “very, very quickly” and hinted at a second summit involving Zelensky if Friday’s talks go well.
Europe: Watching From the Sidelines
European leaders — despite funding military aid and sheltering millions of Ukrainian refugees — have been excluded from recent high-level talks. They were not invited to previous Russia–Ukraine meetings in Istanbul or the February Russia–US talks in Riyadh.
Last week, leaders from Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Finland, and the EU Commission stressed that “territorial questions concerning Ukraine can be, and will be, negotiated only by the Ukrainian president.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have signaled readiness to deploy peacekeepers after the fighting ends — a proposal Moscow has firmly rejected.
