Putin and Trump summit in Alaska: three main tracks and prospects for cooperation
The seventh personal meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump will take place this Friday, August 15, in Alaska. This summit has already been called a key event in the process of finding ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a long-term manner. In addition, experts believe that the negotiations will raise issues related to the development of the Arctic and economic cooperation between the parties. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
The main points of the Alaska Summit
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will hold their seventh face-to-face meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, at the Elmendorf-Richardson joint military base. It is reported that this place was chosen as the venue for the summit after "lengthy behind-the-scenes discussions."
The presidents' talks will begin at 22:30 Moscow time with a one-on-one conversation in the presence of interpreters. In the future, 5 members of the delegations from each side will take part in the negotiations. The Russian delegation will include Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Special Presidential Envoy for Cooperation with Foreign Countries and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev, as well as Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov.
The White House has not yet officially announced the composition of the US delegation.
Earlier, Ushakov called the choice of the meeting place "logical," noting that Russia and the United States are neighboring countries with common borders. In turn, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said that the state acts as a "bridge between countries" and a "gateway to diplomacy."
According to Yuri Ushakov, the main topic of the meeting will be the discussion of options for a long-term peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Trump expressed hope for a constructive dialogue with the Russian president, following which he plans to contact European leaders. Vladimir Putin, during a meeting on Thursday, did not rule out reaching new agreements on strategic offensive weapons in the event of long-term peace conditions in Ukraine.
Experts believe that another important topic will be bilateral relations both in the economic sphere and the interaction of the foreign ministries of the two countries. In addition, the summit may address issues related to the economy, sanctions and the possibility of joint cooperation in various fields, including Arctic exploration, political analysts say.
"Strategic security issues will certainly be raised, that is, everything related to the extension or renegotiation of the START-3 treaty and other agreements that we had," said political analyst Malek Dudakov.
The meeting in Alaska may indicate that the United States and Russia are ready for gradual interaction and high-level dialogue.
There is also a risk that if European countries and Ukraine do not like the agreements that may be reached during the Russian-American negotiations, the United States will put pressure on Europe by refusing to participate in the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
But at the same time, Trump may continue to sell weapons to European states, which may later be supplied to Ukraine.
—We have repeatedly seen the desire of the Kiev regime and the European leaders who condone it to sabotage attempts to somehow get closer to resolving the Ukrainian crisis," Ilya Kravchenko, adviser to the director of RISI, emphasized in an interview with Izvestia.
Why Putin and Trump decided to meet, Witkoff's mission
On the eve of the talks, the American president said that the upcoming meeting would be a trial, its goal was to end the Ukrainian conflict, and the final stage of the settlement would be a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. According to Trump, the territorial issue will also be discussed at the meeting.
The Americans gradually created a favorable ground for negotiations. This was preceded by bilateral contacts. So, this year alone, special envoy of the President of the United States Stephen Witkoff visited Russia five times.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt noted that Trump intends to better understand Russia's position in order to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict over Ukraine, and Washington considers Putin's visit to Alaska a great honor.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov expressed hope that the summit would give a new impetus to the normalization of relations between the two countries.
The interaction between Russia and the United States remained in the spotlight of the world's media throughout the year. Thus, American and Russian journalists, in their comments on Witkoff's arrival in Moscow in August 2025, drew attention to the context of the mission, which suggested an attempt to mitigate the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, as well as Washington's repeated ultimatums.
Russian publications emphasized the constructiveness of Witkoff's last meeting with Vladimir Putin, which lasted about three hours. Yuri Ushakov then described the talks as "useful," noting that the special envoy had conveyed certain signals on the Ukrainian issue. Russian journalists also pointed out that Witkoff's mission took place against the background of Trump's ultimatum, which demanded that Russia cease hostilities by August 8, and that his arrival in Moscow indicated readiness for dialogue.
The American media generally assessed the visit as "very productive" and an important sign of continued diplomatic dialogue. The publications noted that Witkoff's visit was seen as a last-ditch attempt to avoid escalation and new sanctions, as well as preparations for possible meetings between Trump, Putin and Zelensky. At the same time, it was emphasized that despite the lack of breakthrough solutions, the negotiations kept the communication channel between the United States and Russia open.
The general tone of the comments from journalists from both countries was cautiously optimistic: Witkoff's trip was perceived as an important diplomatic step, but with the understanding that resolving the conflict would take time and additional efforts.
Chronology of meetings and conversations between Putin and Trump
Since the beginning of 2025, when Trump became president of the United States again, Vladimir Putin has held six telephone conversations with his American counterpart, in which the situation in Ukraine remained the main issue. Options for a peaceful settlement of the conflict and mediation efforts in the international arena were discussed. The last dialogue took place on July 3, 2025, when both historical ties between the countries and modern geopolitics were touched upon.
The first meeting of the two presidents took place in Hamburg in July 2017. Then, on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the parties discussed Ukraine, Syria and cybersecurity. In November 2017, at the APEC summit in Da Nang, communication was less formal, but coordination on Syria was confirmed. The main event was the July 2018 meeting in Helsinki, the first full—fledged bilateral meeting on the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, nuclear disarmament and the Nord Stream 2 gas project. Then there were short meetings in France and Argentina in 2018, as well as in Japan in 2019 on the sidelines of the G20 forum, where regional conflicts and prospects for improving relations were discussed.
During Trump's first term, the presidents spoke on the phone 24 times. After Joe Biden came to power in the United States, contacts between the leaders of the two countries decreased. In total, Putin and Biden had several telephone conversations and one face-to-face meeting in 2021.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
