Putin and Trump to meet in Alaska: What we know so far and why Zelenskyy won't be there

Key points as of now:

• The meeting will take place at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city.
• The location was chosen for security reasons and because of the ICC arrest warrant for Putin.
• The summit was proposed to Trump by the Russian president.
• The main topic is the war in Ukraine, the possibility of a ceasefire, and territorial issues.
• Kyiv categorically rejects territorial concessions.
• Trump plans online talks with Zelenskyy and European leaders before and after meeting with Putin.
• Europe fears agreements that could harm Ukraine and the continent’s security.

Where and when will Trump and Putin meet?

The meeting between the leaders is scheduled for this Friday, August 15. Both the Trump administration and the Kremlin have decided to choose Alaska as the venue for the summit.

Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, will host the meeting. According to CNN, citing sources, Trump and Putin will meet in the city at the American military base Elmendorf-Richardson, which is said to meet security requirements.

According to people familiar with the summit preparations, there were few places suitable for such a meeting, especially given the arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes in Ukraine issued by the International Criminal Court in 2023 (accordingly, he is not threatened with arrest on US territory).

Given this fact, Russia opposed holding the meeting in Europe, even in cities such as Vienna or Geneva, where US and Russian leaders have met since the Cold War.

Although Putin himself called the United Arab Emirates “quite suitable” as a venue, the White House opposed this, as it would be a long trip for Trump, who had already visited the UAE only in May.

In the end, according to sources, only Hungary and the US remained as options. Putin’s yes to travel to Alaska surprised and pleased American officials, CNN writes.

The time of the meeting has not yet been announced. It is only known that Trump will fly to Alaska on Friday morning, US Eastern Time, and, after more than a seven-hour flight, land in Anchorage.

In terms of logistics, despite its remote location, Alaska is close to Russia, giving the Russian delegation a shorter flight than to the continental United States. For the American delegation, the trip also does not require much time.

Among other things, the choice of meeting place has symbolic significance: Alaska is a former Russian territory sold to the United States in the 19th century.

Meanwhile, The New York Times, citing its sources, reported that the US Secret Service has already rented property in Anchorage to prepare for the event.

Will there be a territorial exchange? What Trump and Putin will discuss

Ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting, consultations were held between senior representatives of the US and Russia. Last week, American special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow, where the Russian leader conveyed his proposal for a meeting with the US president.

In fact, this allowed Putin to avoid harsh US sanctions by offering a meeting with Trump. Earlier, the White House chief had issued an ultimatum to Russia that it must reach a peace agreement by August 8, otherwise secondary tariffs would be imposed. Instead of implementing them, Trump agreed to hold talks in Alaska on August 15.

Photo: Trump's plane will take off for Alaska on Friday morning (Getty Images)

The main topic is the war in Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly expressed the idea of ending the conflict through a compromise, including the possibility of territorial exchanges.

Such statements have been strongly rejected by Kyiv, which emphasizes that any agreements without Ukraine’s participation and full restoration of its territorial integrity are unacceptable.

The discussion is expected to include the prospect for a ceasefire in Ukraine and parameters of a potential peace agreement, although the White House does not expect quick progress. They described the upcoming meeting as “a listening exercise” for the US president.

“Only one party that's involved in this war is going to be present. And so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end...I think this is a listening exercise for the president,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the idea that Trump was making concessions to Putin with this meeting, saying that the American president wants the meeting to assess the situation, since phone calls with Putin have yielded no results.

Ukraine says no to territorial concessions

In response to Western media reports that Putin had presented the Trump administration with a plan for a ceasefire in exchange for territorial concessions from Kyiv, Zelenskyy and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry stressed that the answer to Ukraine’s territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine, and no one will step back from it or be able to.

According to one version, the Russian president wants Ukraine to transfer to Russia all of its eastern Donbas and Crimea. In return, it would supposedly halt their offensive in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Trump, in turn, was dissatisfied with Ukraine’s argument that constitutional changes would be required for territorial exchanges in a potential peace deal.

According to him, a potential deal would mean “something bad for both sides.” He directly stated that there would be territorial concessions from both sides.

“It's very complicated, but we're going to get some back. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both,” Trump later said.

President Zelenskyy, who was not invited to the Alaska talks, said on the eve of the meeting that Russia was preparing for an offensive in three directions in Ukraine — Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk, and Novopavlivka.

He noted that Moscow wants to create a certain informational backdrop by August 15, especially in the American media, that Russia is advancing and Ukraine is losing territory.

Zelenskyy rejected the possibility of a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbas, believing that if Ukraine did so, Russia would attack the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv regions within a few years. Any territorial issue cannot be separated from security guarantees, the president stressed.

Zelenskyy will not attend the summit, but Trump will talk to European leaders

The White House announced that Putin and Trump would meet in a one-on-one format. According to Leavitt, during the talks, the US president wants to focus on the war between Russia and Ukraine, although he is also interested in bilateral relations, including the restoration of air travel between the US and Russia.

The White House press secretary also suggested that the fate of Ukrainian children abducted by Russians will not be among the main topics, as Trump wants this issue to be resolved in direct negotiations between Putin and the president of Ukraine.

Photo: Trump will have a phone call with Zelenskyy before and after his meeting with Putin (Getty Images)

According to Zelenskyy, he was told that since his meeting with Trump had already taken place, it logically follows that there should be a meeting between Putin and Trump, and then there should be a trilateral meeting — the US, Ukraine, and Russia.

Although the Ukrainian leader will not take part in the Alaska summit, Trump is to hold an online meeting with him and European leaders before and after the talks with Putin.

Zelenskyy, together with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is expected to join the video call from Berlin. Along with European leaders, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will also join the talks. The talk is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Kyiv time.

After that, Trump and Vice President JD Vance will speak with European leaders in a separate online meeting at 4:00 p.m. Kyiv time.

Then, at 5:30 p.m. Kyiv time, there will be an online meeting of the Coalition of the Willing - a group of countries working on plans to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.

The US president also promised to call Zelenskyy and European leaders immediately after the meeting with Putin in Alaska.

Meanwhile, Europe is wary of the Trump-Putin meeting. About half a dozen senior European officials told Reuters they see a risk of a deal that would be unfavorable for Europe and Ukraine’s security.

They said that European unity would be vital if this happens. A source familiar with internal US discussions said it cannot be ruled out that Trump may seek to strike a deal directly with Putin without the participation of Ukraine or Europe.

A senior Eastern European official told the media that relevant work is currently underway with American partners to prevent this.

The summit between the leaders of Russia and the US will be the first since 2021, when Putin met with then-US President Joe Biden in Geneva, Switzerland.

As White House chief, Trump last held personal talks with Putin in 2018 in Helsinki, Finland, and in 2019 they met at the G20 summit in Japan, but in a delegation format.

Since the beginning of his second term in early 2025, Trump has spoken with Putin by phone at least six times.

RBC-Ukraine also wrote about expectations from the meeting in the analytical article Alaska summit raises alarm over possible US concessions to Russia. What's at stake for Ukraine.

Details about Witkoff’s trip to Moscow, Trump’s plan, and what’s going on in Moscow — from RBC-Ukraine’s sources.

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, The New York Times, CNN.