U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are heading to the summit in Alaska on Friday with different priorities as they get ready to discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine.
Putin has consistently expressed his intention to acquire territory in Ukraine, while Trump has openly stated his ambition to serve as a global mediator.
However, both leaders may also perceive additional prospects, such as Putin's chance for diplomatic restoration on the international stage. It is more challenging to anticipate Trump's intentions, as he has recently made inconsistent remarks about his Russian counterpart.
Here’s a deeper examination of what both leaders might seek from their discussions.
Putin seeks acknowledgment on the global stage... and beyond.
The primary objective Putin has for this summit is something he has already received.
That is acknowledgment.
Acknowledgment from the United States, the most influential country in the world, that efforts to alienate the Kremlin leader by the West have been unsuccessful.
The occurrence of this high-profile meeting serves as proof of that, as does the joint press conference that the Kremlin has announced. The Kremlin can claim that Russia has regained its position as a key player in global affairs.
"So much for being isolated," boasted the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets earlier this week.
Not only has Putin arranged a US-Russia summit, but he has also chosen a strategic location for it. Alaska offers much that appeals to the Kremlin.
First, in terms of security. At its closest point, the mainland of Alaska lies merely 90km (55 miles) from Russia's Chukotka, allowing Vladimir Putin to reach it without flying over "hostile" territories.
Second, it’s quite distant—a very long distance—from Ukraine and Europe. This aligns with the Kremlin's desire to marginalize Kyiv and EU officials, opting instead to engage directly with the United States.
There’s also a significant historical context. The sale of Alaska by Tsarist Russia to the US in the 19th Century is being leveraged by Moscow to rationalize its attempt to alter borders by force in the 21st Century.
"Alaska serves as a clear illustration that national borders can shift, and that large territories can change hands," stated Moskovsky Komsomolets.
However, Putin seeks more than just international acknowledgment and symbolic gestures.
He desires triumph. He has been adamant that Russia retains all the territory it has claimed and occupied in four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson) and that Kyiv vacates the areas of those regions that are still under Ukrainian control.
This demand is intolerable for Ukraine. "Ukrainians will not surrender their land to the occupier," asserts the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kremlin is aware of this. Yet if it manages to garner Trump's endorsement for its territorial claims, the assumption may be that Ukraine's rejection could lead to Trump withdrawing all support for Kyiv. In turn, Russia and the US would focus on strengthening their relationship and promoting economic cooperation.
Nonetheless, another possibility exists.
Russia's economy is facing difficulties. The budget deficit is increasing, and income from oil and gas exports is declining.
If economic challenges are prompting Putin to seek a resolution to the war, the Kremlin may be willing to compromise.
At this moment, however, there are no indications of that, as Russian officials persist in asserting that Russia maintains the initiative on the battlefield.
Trump aims to seize the opportunity to advance the pursuit of peace.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump famously claimed that he could resolve the Ukraine war quickly, stating it could be done in just a few days.
This commitment has lingered over the American president's attempts to address the conflict, as he has fluctuated between dissatisfaction with both the Ukrainians and the Russians since he returned to the White House in January.
He confronted Zelensky during a tense meeting at the White House in February, and later on, he temporarily halted military assistance and intelligence sharing with the beleaguered nation.
In recent months, he has expressed greater criticism of Putin’s stubbornness and his readiness to target civilian areas, establishing numerous deadlines for implementing new sanctions against the Russians and other countries engaging with them. Last Friday marked the latest deadline, which, like the previous ones, Trump ultimately chose to abandon.
Now he is welcoming the Russian leader to the U.S. and discussing the concept of "land-swapping," which raises concerns in Ukraine about possible land concessions in return for peace.
Consequently, any conversation regarding what Trump seeks from his discussions with Putin on Friday is complicated by the president's inconsistent statements and actions.
In recent days, Trump has actively tried to manage expectations for the upcoming meeting, possibly recognizing the limited chances for a significant agreement with only one side of the conflict present.
On Monday, he referred to the summit as a chance to "gauge the situation." He implied that he would be able to determine if an agreement with the Russian leader was feasible "probably within the first couple of minutes."
"I might walk away and say good luck, and that could be the conclusion," he remarked. "It’s possible I’ll conclude that this won't be resolved."
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed this sentiment, describing the summit as a "listening session." However, by the middle of the week, he had once again increased optimism about a potential agreement, stating his belief that both Zelensky and Putin desire peace.
With Trump, it’s usually wise to anticipate the unexpected. Meanwhile, Zelensky and European leaders reached out to him on Wednesday to ensure he doesn’t finalize any deals with Putin that Ukraine would find unacceptable or incapable of agreeing to.
One thing has been evident throughout the year, however: Trump is eager for the opportunity to be recognized as the one who brings the war to an end.
In his inaugural remarks, he expressed a desire for his most significant legacy to be that of a "peacemaker." It is widely known that he seeks the global acclaim of a Nobel Peace Prize.
In the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump recounted all the global disputes he believes he has successfully mediated since taking office in January. But when questioned about the Ukraine conflict, he admitted the difficulty of the situation he now encounters.
"I thought this would be the simplest one," he remarked. "It’s turned out to be the hardest."
Trump typically does not get mired in specifics. Yet, if there’s a chance for him to declare progress towards peace during the discussions in Anchorage, he will seize it.
Putin, ever the astute negotiator, may look for a way to allow Trump to make such a claim—albeit on Russia's conditions, of course.
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