US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting today at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine and other pressing issues.
The high-profile gathering includes Russia’s foreign, defense, and finance ministers, along with the head of its sovereign wealth fund, marking Putin’s first visit to the United States in a decade — a symbolic political victory for the Russian leader despite the outstanding International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him.
According to Sky News Arabia, the summit’s outcome is being closely watched worldwide, with Newsweek outlining four possible scenarios emerging from the talks.
Analysts warn the meeting underscores Europe’s reliance on US security guarantees, leaving European nations in a reactive position to Trump’s diplomatic moves rather than initiating their own strategies to end the war.
Raphael Luce of the European Council on Foreign Relations noted, “Kyiv’s allies are stuck in a pattern of responding to Trump’s moves rather than forging diplomatic efforts to end the war,” adding that the EU will find it difficult to challenge any US-Russian deal for fear of losing Washington’s support.
Experts caution that European and Ukrainian leaders must be ready for Trump’s potential push to normalize relations with Moscow, and for Putin to engage in a cycle of ambiguous promises.
Richard Portes, professor of economics at London Business School, told Newsweek the optics are “great” for Putin, as he is welcomed to the US despite being labeled an “international war criminal” by the ICC — an institution the US does not recognize.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, writing on Telegram, urged that the Alaska summit pave the way for a “just peace” and open the door to substantive trilateral negotiations between the US, Russia, and Ukraine.
“It’s time to end the war, and Russia must take the necessary steps. We are counting on America,” he said.
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