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Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit the U.S. for the first time in ten years as he prepares to meet President Donald Trump in Alaska on Friday.
After Trump announced last week that the two leaders would convene for a face-to-face summit, speculation arose about potential meeting locations. Sites considered included Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates, marking the first such meeting since Putin’s incursion into Ukraine in 2022. This takes place less than a year following his meeting with Biden in Geneva in 2021.
It was reported that Putin shot down the idea of Italy, as it is seen as being favorable to Ukraine, and instead pushed for Hungary.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and then-President Barack Obama share a toast at a luncheon during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 28, 2015. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
“Despite my strong reservations about Putin and his administration, I genuinely hope these talks result in meaningful progress and help conclude the war on fair terms,” she expressed, highlighting her cautious approach when engaging with Putin.
Russian representatives adopted a more hopeful stance regarding the summit’s venue, with Russia’s special economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev referencing the historical significance of Alaska in Russian-U.S. relations on platform X.
“Initially Russian America, with its Orthodox roots, forts, and fur trade, Alaska mirrors those connections and renders the U.S. an Arctic nation,” Dmitriev noted, further characterizing Alaska as the “ideal setting” for the meeting.
President Donald Trump, center, speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP/Alex Brandon)
Hoffman argued that the location is not hugely significant and said, “What’s going to matter is what they talk about. The details of the meeting more than the venue.
“No one can predict what’s going to happen. I don’t even think Trump or Putin knows what’s going to result from this,” he added, noting there were too many variables to start predicting or analyzing any element of the upcoming talks.
Trump wouldn’t detail what he specifically hopes to get out of the talks with Putin on Friday, though he argued he’d be able to tell within the first “two minutes” whether a ceasefire deal in Ukraine was even possible.
“I’m not going to make a deal. It’s not up to me to make a deal,” he said. I think a deal should be made for both [Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy].
“I’d like to see a ceasefire. I’d like to see the best deal that could be made for both parties. You know, it takes two to tango,” he added.
From left to right, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, hold a telephone conversation with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of a meeting at the 6th European Political Community summit on May 16, 2025 at Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania. (Photo by KuglerSteffen/Bundesregierung via Getty Images)
Trump said he would relate the details of the conversation to both Zelenskyy and European leaders immediately following the meeting.
“We’re going to see what he has in mind,” Trump said of his upcoming meeting with the Kremlin chief. “And if it’s a fair deal, I’ll reveal it to the European Union leaders and to the NATO leaders, and also to President Zelenskyy – I think out of respect I’ll call him first.
“I may say, ‘lots of luck, keep fighting’ or I may say, ‘we can make a deal’,” Trump concluded.
