One meeting, two different perspectives - Trump meets with Putin in Alaska tonight
As the countdown to the highly anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska begins, Moscow and Washington are sending conflicting messages regarding their goals and expectations for the summit.
The US president has said he believes Vladimir Putin is coming to this meeting with a desire to end Moscow's war against Ukraine. "I believe now he is convinced that he will make a deal. I think he will. And we will find out very soon," Trump said.
This is not the first time Trump has made such a statement. He has repeatedly said that Putin wants to end the invasion of Ukraine, or at least that he can persuade the Russian president to a deal. However, these statements have so far not materialized. Each time Trump has mentioned the possibility of a ceasefire, Russia has continued or even intensified its frontline offensive and air strikes on Ukraine.
The US president's rhetoric has changed in recent days, becoming less persuasive and significantly less optimistic. Trump himself has softened his tone, describing Friday's summit as a "prelude to the second meeting" that is supposed to take place between Zelenskyy and Putin, in the presence of Trump and possibly some European leaders.
"We'll have the second meeting if the first one goes well," Trump said, adding that he would prefer this meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy to take place "almost immediately."
When asked if he believed he could convince the Russian leader to stop attacking civilians in Ukraine, he replied: “I believe the answer is no, because I had this conversation with him.” And yet Trump believes some kind of deal will be signed in Alaska.
But for Moscow, the agenda looks different. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no documents were expected to be signed during Friday's summit. Although Peskov said it would be a "mistake" to predict the outcome of the talks, he stressed that there are no plans for Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump to formalize any agreements.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, part of the Russian delegation at Friday's meeting, said the central theme of the summit is the "resolution" of Russia's war in Ukraine, although economic cooperation and global security will also be discussed.
Putin himself held a special meeting Thursday morning with Russian authorities, stating that the US administration is making "quite energetic and sincere efforts to end hostilities, resolve the crisis, and reach agreements that are in the interests of all parties involved in this conflict."
The Russian president did not mention any concrete steps to end the war against Ukraine and instead focused on Moscow's contact with Washington, in an attempt to present Friday's meeting as a summit between world superpowers.
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