Trump-Putin Alaska summit set to focus on Ukraine peace push

US President Donald Trump is preparing for a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, with the American leader vowing to push for an end to the war in Ukraine. The summit comes amid heightened global attention, as it will be Putin’s first visit to Western soil since ordering the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump expressed confidence that the outcome of the meeting would be clear almost immediately. “We’re gonna find out where everybody stands. And I’ll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes… whether or not we’re going to have a good meeting or a bad. If it’s bad, it’ll end very quickly. If it’s good, we’re going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future,” Trump said, as quoted by CNN.

The former US President has repeatedly claimed that Putin would not have launched the invasion if he had been in office at the time. On Thursday, he reiterated that the war “should have never happened,” adding, “If I weren’t President, in my opinion, he would much rather take over all of Ukraine. But I am President, and he’s not going to mess around with me.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow hopes to continue the “useful conversation” during Friday’s summit, signaling the Kremlin’s interest in a constructive dialogue. However, Russia has intensified its military operations in Ukraine in the days leading up to the talks, raising questions over whether diplomacy can deliver tangible results.

Reports suggest Trump has floated the possibility of a territorial swap as part of a peace plan, an idea firmly rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to the Alaska meeting. With no Ukrainian representation at the table, the summit’s potential impact on ending the war remains uncertain.