Ukraine negotiations in Alaska? Trump wants to receive Putin

What is it about?

The US President wants to end the war as quickly as possible. However, Russia's army, which has been waging a destructive war of aggression against Ukraine on Putin's orders for around three and a half years, has the initiative and is expanding its conquests. People are being killed every day. Millions of Ukrainians have fled their homeland. That is why the main issue now is a ceasefire - or even a peace agreement.

Trump is presenting the summit as an attempt to come closer to an end to the fighting. In this context, he raised the possibility of an exchange of territory between Ukraine and Russia, but remained vague.

Moscow's recent demands for a peaceful solution to the conflict included Ukraine renouncing its NATO membership and ceding the territories annexed by Russia. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has so far categorically refused to relinquish the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, as well as the territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, which are partly controlled by Moscow.

International borders should not be changed by force, according to a joint declaration by Germany, France, Italy, Poland, the UK, Finland and the EU Commission prior to the summit.

Where is Zelenskyi at the meeting?

In Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasizes that there can only be a fair peace with the participation of Ukraine in the negotiations. But Putin rejects Zelensky's participation in the summit - at this point in time. The Kremlin in Moscow says that the main focus is now on the bilateral Russian-American negotiations.

In contrast, Kiev and the Europeans are warning that there must be no gifts to Russia at the summit. Any concessions would run the risk of only encouraging Russia to commit new acts of aggression.

However, Russia is also interested in economic contacts with the USA and wants to discuss strategic security with Trump in the future - meaning nuclear arms issues in particular. This is another reason why Moscow has already suggested a follow-up meeting between Putin and Trump - then on Russian territory.

What can be clarified at the summit without Kiev?

Above all, Russia wants to restore relations with the USA. With regard to Ukraine, after numerous phone calls with Trump, Putin is now likely to make his view of the origins of the conflict clear once again in direct talks and offer a solution - possibly a partial ceasefire. However, implementation is considered impossible without Ukrainian participation and consent.

Territorial issues in particular would require a comprehensive amendment to the Ukrainian constitution, as all territories - including Crimea - are listed in it. Constitutional amendments, which are also not permitted in times of war, require a two-thirds majority in parliament, the Supreme Rada. The Constitutional Court must also give its approval.

This means that President Zelensky or the Supreme Rada cannot simply decide to relinquish territory. International recognition of Crimea and other Ukrainian territories as Russian territory, as demanded by Moscow, is also ruled out.

However, the US president would of course have some means of exerting pressure on Ukraine, including above all a complete halt to military support, as already happened briefly in March. In addition, the USA could also stop providing reconnaissance data, which would be difficult to replace by the other Ukrainian allies. The Ukrainian army would be practically blind at a stroke, and it would become increasingly difficult for it to continue the war. Ukraine could be threatened with the loss of its territory.

Ukraine and Europe accuse Putin of having no interest in peace - is that true?

In fact, Moscow repeatedly emphasizes that Russia still has enough resources to continue the war for years. At the same time, the Kremlin declares that it has no interest in this. But what Putin has demanded so far for an end to the fighting would be tantamount to capitulation for Ukraine. Kiev and the Europeans refuse to give up.

But it is also clear that the West's sanctions are a burden on the Russian economy. Despite a boosted war economy, there is a threat of recession and many problems with rapidly shrinking reserves. The continuation of hostilities is becoming more and more expensive for Russia - not least because the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who are going to war because of the high salaries are increasingly short of manpower.

The independent Russian political scientist Tatyana Stanovaya sees opportunities at the summit. Trump himself has made it clear that Russia has a military advantage and that sanctions are unlikely to impress Putin. "In my opinion, this is now the first more or less realistic attempt to end the war," she says. "At the same time, I am extremely skeptical about the implementation of the agreements, even if there is a ceasefire for a certain period of time."

When was Putin last in the USA - and how well does he know Trump?

According to the US State Department, Putin was last in the United States in September 2015 to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York. There he also met then US President Barack Obama, who also visited Putin in Moscow.

Trump has already met Putin several times - during his first term of office from 2017 to 2021, including at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019. Under Trump's successor Biden, whom Putin last met in Geneva in 2021, there was largely radio silence between Washington and Moscow after the start of the Russian war of aggression in February 2022.

Since the start of his second term in office in January 2025, Trump has presented himself as a mediator for a peace solution who maintains good relations with Putin. He distanced himself from Biden's support for Ukraine and also questioned US arms deliveries to the attacked country. He even regularly goes so far as to claim that it is "Biden's war".

Didn't Trump actually want to increase the pressure on Putin?

During the election campaign, Trump boasted that he wanted to end the war within 24 hours. Since taking office in January, he has spoken to Putin on the phone several times. Recently, however, he has become increasingly critical of the Kremlin leader. The fact that Putin has now declared his willingness to meet the US President again quickly came as a relative surprise.

On July 29, Trump had set a deadline of ten days and called for a ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev during this period. In the event that this did not happen, he announced sanctions against Russia's key trading partners - and was the first country to impose new punitive tariffs on India due to its oil business with Moscow. However, these are not due to come into force until August 27. The 10-day ultimatum from the end of July has now expired without Trump imposing new tariffs on other countries in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Why Alaska at all?

Trump is the host, Putin is coming as a guest. The journey will take almost as long for Trump as it will for Putin: Alaska is the northernmost state in the USA. It is not that far away from Russia - at its narrowest point it is only a few kilometers. The Bering Strait separates the area from Russian territory.

The exact location and time of the meeting are still unclear. However, Putin also wants Alaska to be far away from Europe in order to show that the Europeans are basically on the outside. And for security reasons, it is ideal for the Kremlin leader because no third countries are involved. In addition, he does not have to fear an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court because the USA and Russia do not recognize the court.

Alaska was part of present-day Russia until the middle of the 19th century, when the United States bought the territory with its many natural resources from the former empire.