US President Donald Trump (R) and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speak during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7, 2017
Mikhail Klimentiev | AFP | Getty Images
As Russian President Vladimir Putin holds face-to-face talks with White House leader Donald Trump on Friday, Ukraine — and the world — will be watching with baited breath.
The state leaders are set to begin their summit at 11:30 a.m. local time (3.30 p.m. ET) at the Elmendorf Richardson military base in Anchorage, Alaska.
There will then be a working lunch for both delegations, before the presidents hold a joint press conference to summarize their talks.
The presser will undoubtedly be one of the most closely watched events of this year, revealing just how near — or far — is the end of the war in Ukraine that has spanned more than three and a half years.
“Trump wants to exhaust all options to have a peaceful end to war,” the White House stated on the eve of the Alaska summit.
It remains to be seen whether those “options” will ultimately be good or bad for Ukraine.
Not only is a ceasefire at stake — if Trump can persuade Putin to agree to one — but so are Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Europe’s security, Russia’s economy and geopolitical alliances.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has a checkered relationship with Trump and was not invited to the Friday event, will be nervous as the talks get underway.
Both he and his European allies fear the U.S. leader could capitulate to skilled negotiator Putin’s likely demands for Moscow to retain occupied Ukrainian territory and cut short Ukraine’s NATO membership aspirations, in return for halting its military offensive.
What’s the schedule?
Moscow has released more details about the summit than the White House, which only this week confirmed that the presidents’ talks would be a “one-on-one” meeting.
The Kremlin echoed that view, stating that Trump and Putin will meet “in a tete-a-tete format” behind closed doors with translators in tow, “naturally,” according to Putin’s aide on foreign affairs, Yuri Ushakov.
“Considering that very important topics of a sensitive nature will be discussed, the list of participants in the negotiations is not big,” Ushakov added, in comments translated by NBC News.
Russia’s delegation includes only a few members of Putin’s inner circle, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s investment and trade envoy, as well as Ushakov.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov looks on, next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they wait for the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
The presidential aide commented that “it is obvious to everyone that the central topic will be the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” including the “broader tasks of ensuring peace and security,” as well as pressing international and regional issues.
Signaling that Russia will be looking to extol the economic benefits of a rapprochement with the U.S., Ushakov added that “an exchange of views is expected regarding the further development of bilateral cooperation, including in the trade and economic area,” noting that “this cooperation has enormous and, unfortunately, untapped potential.”