US President Donald Trump on Thursday, August 14, acknowledged his high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin may fail, and said any Ukraine deal would come through a future three-way meeting with Kyiv to "divvy things up." Putin flies to Alaska on Friday at the invitation of Trump on his first visit to a Western country since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people.
The Kremlin said that the two presidents planned to meet one-on-one, heightening fears by European leaders that Putin will cajole Trump into a settlement imposed on Ukraine.
Trump, on the eve of the summit, insisted that he would not finalize any deal with Putin and that he would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in any decisions. "This meeting sets up the second meeting, but there is a 25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting," Trump told Fox News Radio. "The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that's going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don't want to use the word 'divvy' things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it's not a bad term," Trump said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any future deal needed to ensure Ukraine's security. "To achieve peace, I think we all recognize that there will have to be some conversation about security guarantees," Rubio told reporters in Washington, saying he was "hopeful" about the summit.
Trump had boasted that he could end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House in January. But his calls to Putin – and intense pressure on Zelensky to accept concessions – have failed to move the Russian leader and Trump has warned of "very severe consequences" if Putin keeps snubbing his overtures.
Putin on Thursday welcomed US efforts to end the conflict and said that talks could also help yield an agreement on nuclear arms control. "The US administration... is making quite energetic and sincere efforts to end the fighting," Putin told a meeting of top officials in Moscow.
The talks are set to begin at 11:30 am (1930 GMT) Friday at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, a major US military installation in Alaska that has been crucial in monitoring Russia. "This conversation will take place in a one-on-one format, naturally with the participation of interpreters," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow. He said that delegations would continue discussions over a working lunch and that Putin and Trump would hold a joint news conference. The White House has not confirmed any plans for a joint press appearance.
Zelensky, who will not attend Friday's summit in Alaska, met Thursday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, after talks a day earlier in Berlin. Starmer greeted the Ukrainian leader with a warm hug and handshake on the steps of his Downing Street residence and later voiced solidarity. European leaders expressed relief after a call with Trump on Wednesday, saying he appeared focused on a ceasefire rather than concessions by Ukraine.