Take to the States: what the Russian delegation is going to Alaska with

The historic talks between Putin and Trump in Alaska will begin on August 15 at 22:30 Moscow time, and will be attended by a representative delegation of the Russian Federation consisting of several ministers. The range of participants suggests a wide range of topics for discussion: sanctions, economic cooperation, the Arctic and strategic stability. The Russian president, in particular, did not rule out entering into new agreements on offensive weapons with the United States if long-term peace conditions in Ukraine are created. Against this background, the so-called "coalition of the willing" has abandoned the plan to send troops to the Eastern European country, and Kiev agrees to discuss territorial issues. About how the world powers are preparing for the meeting of the century in Alaska — in the material of Izvestia.

The program of the meeting of the Presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States in Alaska

The start of negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska is scheduled for 22:30 Moscow time, the program has already been agreed, said Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov. After a face-to-face conversation, the leaders will continue negotiations in the format of a working breakfast, which will be attended by members of the delegations of the two countries. Among the topics for discussion are the peaceful settlement of the crisis in Ukraine and the implementation of economic projects in the Arctic. After the talks, Putin and Trump will hold a joint press conference.

Ushakov also named the location of the talks: the US Air Force Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The Kremlin considers it symbolic that the meeting between Putin and Trump will take place near the burial site of Soviet pilots in Alaska. It should be recalled that during the Great Patriotic War, the Alsib air route operated for the transfer of aircraft, cargo and people.

— In addition to the presidents, five members of the delegation will participate in the negotiations. Of course, there will be a group of experts nearby," said Yuri Ushakov.

By the way, Trump's flight from Washington has already been scheduled for Friday morning. According to forecasts of American meteorologists, the weather on this day will be warm with light rains.

The presidential aide announced the composition of the Russian negotiating group. It will include Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Kirill Dmitriev, Special Presidential Envoy for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign countries.

On the American side, US Vice President Jay Dee Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant will participate in the negotiations.

The list of participants indicates that Russia is preparing to discuss issues covering diplomacy, security, and economic interests. The presence of Finance Minister Siluanov is particularly interesting, as he is responsible for Russia's response to Western sanctions. This may indicate that Moscow wants to discuss the cancellation of some of them, Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies, told Izvestia.

"The presence of Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, indicates the potential conclusion of economic deals, possibly related to Trump's alleged interest in providing incentives, such as access to Alaska's resources," the political scientist emphasized.

Kremlin meeting on preparations for the summit

On the eve of the meeting, on August 14, Vladimir Putin held a meeting with members of the top leadership of the Russian Federation, representatives of the presidential administration and the Cabinet of Ministers, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

—I have asked you to gather today in order to inform you about the progress of the negotiation process on the Ukrainian crisis, as well as the negotiations in a bilateral format with the Ukrainian delegation," Vladimir Putin said.

At the same time, on August 14, it became known that Moscow and Kiev conducted another prisoner exchange: the parties returned 84 people each.

In addition, the Russian president did not rule out entering into new agreements on strategic offensive weapons in the event of the creation of long-term peace conditions in Ukraine. In many ways, this indicates that Russia positively assesses the upcoming meeting and relies on the continuation of a dialogue that goes beyond the Ukrainian issue, believes Tigran Meloyan.

Another purpose of the meeting with the president is to discuss the current stage of Russia's dialogue with the current American administration. According to Putin, she is making quite energetic and sincere efforts to "end the crisis and reach agreements of interest to all parties involved in this conflict in order to create long-term conditions of peace between our countries, in Europe, and in the world as a whole."

Although the central topic will be the Ukrainian settlement, the delegations cannot but discuss bilateral relations. After the meetings in Riyadh and Istanbul, it became clear that their establishment was possible. This was discussed both in the State Department and in the Russian Foreign Ministry, emphasizing the importance of maintaining communication channels so that the parties could hear and understand each other, Konstantin Sukhoverkhov, INF program manager, told Izvestia.

— In this area, we can see the adoption of decisions that will meet the task of improving relations between the countries. In the spring, it was decided to resume the full—fledged work of the countries' diplomatic missions, perhaps we will see the adoption of new practical steps after the summit," Sukhoverkhov said.

Projects for the extraction of rare earth metals may become likely topics for dialogue between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States. Earlier, Putin said that Russia was ready to invite foreign partners, including the Americans, to cooperate on rare earth metals in Donbas and Novorossiya. And the American media write that Trump plans to offer his Russian counterpart similar projects in Alaska.

It is also possible to discuss the restoration of direct flights — the new Russian ambassador to Washington, Alexander Darchiev, previously announced work in this direction.

The humanitarian topic of prisoner exchange is becoming promising. In August 2024, Russia and the United States, with the participation of four other countries, conducted such a procedure. A total of 26 people participated in the exchange. In February, the United States returned programmer Alexander Vinnik to the Russian Federation in exchange for American Mark Vogel, who was convicted of drug trafficking.

What positions are the Russian and US delegations flying to Alaska from?

The main topic of the talks will be the search for a solution to the conflict in Ukraine. More than three years after the start of their negotiations, the parties approach the negotiating table in different situations. The enemy obviously could not inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. At the same time, there is a clear split in the Western camp over the future confrontation with Russia. The United States, Hungary, and Slovakia intend to engage in dialogue with Moscow while most of Europe, led by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, is ready to continue supplying Kiev.

With the advent of the Trump administration, Washington is seeking to get out of the conflict in order to save American taxpayers' money, as stated by US Vice President Jay Dee Vance and free up forces to confront China. Therefore, Trump is interested in a deal with Russia, as he has said more than once. However, the specific parameters are still very vague: through leaks in the American press, it is known about the US proposal to exchange territories between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.

Against this background, the Russian Armed Forces continue to advance, reaching the highest pace in a year. US attempts to put pressure on Russia's economic partners through tariffs have not been successful: the BRICS have only rallied stronger, as evidenced by Brazil's proposal to negotiate a response to US duties. Therefore, Moscow is in a strong position and does not remove the requirements to eliminate the root causes of the conflict: it is necessary to ensure the neutral status of Ukraine, protect the rights of Russian speakers, and withdraw the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the areas they hold in the Russian regions.

Putin and Trump may agree on some principles of conflict resolution in Alaska. Obviously, we will be talking about arms supplies to Ukraine. The United States may assume some obligations related to the fact that not all weapons are transferred to Kiev, Ivan Loshkarev, associate professor of the Department of Political Theory at MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, admitted in an interview with Izvestia. The parties can also discuss territorial issues, although during a conversation with Vladimir Zelensky and European leaders on August 13, Trump promised that this issue should be discussed in the presence of Kiev.

According to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukraine is ready to discuss territorial issues, although it had previously refused to do so.

The issue of economic claims may also be raised. The Ukrainian side does not hide that it will try to seek financial compensation. At the same time, Russia proceeds from the fact that all mutual claims will be frozen and damages for the destruction or damage of objects, both civilian and military infrastructure, will not be recovered from the opposite side.

— Republican administrations have traditionally acted as defenders of Christians around the world. Therefore, humanitarian issues can also be raised, first of all, the topic of the persecution of the UOC. However, it may not come to that, given that this particular republican administration is thinking more about the economy," Ivan Loshkarev believes.

Actions of the EU and Ukraine on the eve of the Alaska summit

Against this background, the EU and Ukraine made the last attempt before the meeting of the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States to convince Donald Trump to join their line towards Russia. However, they only achieved promises to inform about the results of the conversation with the Russian president and assurances that Ukraine would participate in resolving the issue of territories. The American president also stated that he intends to organize a trilateral summit if the meeting in Alaska is successful.

Brussels is trying to prevent the dialogue between the leaders of the two powers as much as possible. In particular, 26 EU countries, with the exception of Hungary, issued a statement saying that a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian conflict should protect the interests of Kiev and Brussels. The Europeans insist that negotiations can only be conducted under conditions of a cease-fire or a reduction in hostilities. The European Commission is also preparing the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, which is expected to be adopted in September, and is also encouraging the United States to take more drastic steps.

The head of the US Treasury, Scott Bessent, gave extremely harsh advice to representatives of European countries on Fox Business: they should "act or shut up."

"They keep saying, 'The United States should do this, the United States should do that.' President Trump has imposed secondary duties on India due to its consumption of Russian oil. And the Europeans haven't done that yet. In fact, Europeans buy petroleum products produced by Indian refineries," he said.

Germany and its European partners welcome President Trump's peace initiative, the German Embassy in Moscow told Izvestia.

— The path to achieving peace in Ukraine cannot be determined without Ukraine's participation. At the same time, we are convinced that reasonable negotiations can take place only in terms of a cease—fire or a reduction in hostilities," the German diplomats said.

Germany has consistently noted "Russia's brutal actions against Ukraine and even increased attacks in recent weeks." At the same time, Germany does not notice an increase in attacks by Ukrainian UAVs and an increase in the number of attempted terrorist attacks in the Russian Federation committed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Earlier it became known that the FSB prevented a series of attacks that were being prepared by the Ukrainian special services. In particular, their agent planned to blow up a car in the Moscow region to kill a Russian military man. UAVs are also hitting Belgorod: government agencies and organizations, including ministries and MFC, are switching to remote operation on August 14 and 15, the governor of the region Vyacheslav Gladkov announced.

The "Coalition of the Willing" in Europe, which has been in existence for more than five months, has noticeably lowered its ambitions during this time. If earlier they were ready to send their military contingent, now we are talking about the fact that they will help Kiev indirectly. There is still a growing understanding in European capitals that it is financially and physically impossible to support Ukraine without the United States, Loshkarev noted.

"Without access to intelligence, to significant financial resources from Western partners, including the United States, without arms supplies and logistics provided by NATO countries, primarily Poland and Romania, which are very loyal to the United States, Ukraine cannot act for a long time," the political scientist emphasized.

Loshkarev predicts that the Ukrainian leadership's bargaining period, if it does, will take literally several weeks for the simple reason that resources will run out later. Regardless of how the Alaska negotiations end, Washington and, above all, the US president will see themselves as the main peacemakers and contenders for the Nobel Prize. Seven countries — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Gabon, Israel, Cambodia, Rwanda and Pakistan — have already supported Donald Trump's claim to this award.