Trump arrives in Alaska for summit with Putin
President Trump arrived in Alaska on Friday for a high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, aiming to broker a ceasefire in the Ukraine war.
He also stated that he would “not be happy” if the Russians refused to cooperate, News.Az reports citing The New York Times.
The two world leaders stepped off their respective airplanes at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage almost simultaneously at about 11:09 a.m. local time, 3:09 p.m. in Washington, and descended the steps to greet each other on the tarmac. Mr. Trump had landed almost an hour earlier, and waited aboard Air Force One for Mr. Putin’s plane to arrive.
They descended the steps and shook hands, smiling broadly, before striding down a red carpet to pose for pictures on a stage. Ignoring reporters’ shouted questions, they shook hands again, then got into Mr. Trump’s presidential limousine.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska, Mr. Trump said “there’s nothing set in stone” regarding a potential agreement, acknowledging that success was uncertain.
“I want to see a cease-fire rapidly,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be today. But I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today.”
In a separate airborne interview with Fox News, Mr. Trump said “I would walk” if Mr. Putin balked at a deal to end the fighting.
The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said meetings could last six to seven hours. The White House hopes to hold a news conference by late afternoon in Alaska announcing some sort of progress.
Mr. Trump has been unclear about his negotiating positions, but said that while he was interested in resuming economic ties between the United States and Russia, it could not happen “until we get the war settled.”
He said that he expected to discuss land swaps between Ukraine and Russia — which Ukraine vehemently opposes — but added that “I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision.” He also said “there’s a possibility” of security assurances for Ukraine as part of an eventual peace deal but “not in the form of NATO” membership.
Hours earlier, Mr. Trump injected new uncertainty into his effort to end the war in Ukraine by calling Mr. Putin’s top ally, President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus, and then heaping praise on him. Mr. Lukashenko is one of the world’s longest-ruling dictators and a figure long shunned by American presidents, and he helped Russia begin its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Mr. Trump wrote on social media that he “had a wonderful talk” with Mr. Lukashenko, and called him “highly respected.”
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