Russian President Vladimir Putin informed senior Kremlin officials that the Trump administration is both “energetic and sincere.” This remark seemed like a strategic message to Washington, just one day before his scheduled meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have expressed their thoughts in advance of the planned face-to-face talks on Friday. This will mark the first meeting between the two leaders since 2019 and represents Putin’s first visit to American soil in ten years.
The bilateral meeting is set to be held at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson near Anchorage, the headquarters of Alaskan Command and the 11th Air Force, as announced by the Kremlin on Thursday morning. During a Thursday meeting with senior Kremlin officials about the upcoming summit, Russian state media reported that Putin had praised the Trump administration and was optimistic about the talks.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor from the 3d Wing prepares for landing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, on March 28. The F-22, an American twin-engine, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft, offers power projection across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Moises Vasquez)
Putin reportedly stated, “the current U.S. administration is, as everyone knows, in my opinion, making rather energetic and sincere efforts to halt combat, resolve the crisis, and reach an agreement that benefits all involved parties.” President Putin noted that the meeting aims to “establish lasting conditions for peace between our countries, in Europe, and globally.”
Regarding specifics, Kremlin official Yury Ushakov stated on Thursday that preparations for the talks “have entered their final phase.” He remarked that because the talks were scheduled on short notice, everything is being expedited. Challenges being addressed include securing visas for the Russian delegation’s entry into Alaska.
President Trump also spoke out on Thursday, telling Fox News Radio that his primary ambition was to speak on behalf of the soldiers of both sides of the conflict “who are being killed unnecessarily” and to persuade Putin to sit down with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as soon as possible. The President hinted a second, trilateral meeting in the U.S.-Ukraine-Russia format could happen so quickly after Friday’s talks, it may not be even worth himself and President Putin flying home, as Zelensky could fly directly to them.
“We have a lot of planes”, Trump explained.
Trump said on Thursday he feels that once he’s gone into the meeting and met Putin, he’ll know whether the talks will be productive “in the first couple of minutes” but expressed that the fact Putin is coming to Alaska at all suggests “he wants to get it done”. “I’m convinced that he’s gojng to make a deal”, Trump said.
On those next steps, President Trump said if the meeting with Putin goes well it is possible the two leaders will stage a joint press-conference. If things do not go well, he said he’d host a solo one to explain what had happened to the world media, before immediately flying back to Washington D.C..
He said: “depending on what happens with my meeting, I’m going to be calling up President Zelensky and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet. I don’t know where we’re going to have the second meeting, but we have an idea of three different locations. Including the possibility, because it would be by far the easiest, of staying in Alaska.”
He continued: “It would certainly be convenient if we had a very good meeting, I’m going to let them negotiate their deal, I’m not going to negotiate their deal… If it’s a bad meeting, I’m not calling anybody. I’m going home… But if it’s a good meeting, I’m going to call President Zelensky and the European leaders”.
