President Donald Trump voiced optimism that his Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska would be productive, but threatened economic consequences should the talks not go as planned.
“It will be very severe,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “I’m not doing this for my health. OK? I don’t need it. I’d like to focus on our country, but I’m doing this to save a lot of lives. Yeah, very severe.”
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The president departed Washington, D.C., early Friday morning and will only spend a handful of hours at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Trump and Putin are expected to meet privately, one-on-one, before engaging in expanded bilateral talks and, finally, a bilateral press conference.
The two leaders last met in 2018 in Finland, and Trump told reporters Friday morning that he and Putin share “a good respect level, on both sides,” and that he hoped “something’s going to come” out of the day’s proceedings.
However, Trump stressed that he viewed the Friday meeting as a prelude to getting Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the same room to negotiate a ceasefire.
“They’ll be discussed,” Trump said of Putin’s demands to hold on to Crimea as a red line for a ceasefire, “but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision, and I think they’ll make a proper decision.”
“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get him at a table,” the president continued. “Look, Vladimir Putin wanted to take all of Ukraine. If I wasn’t president, he would right now be taking all of Ukraine, but he’s not going to do it.”
Trump added that he planned to tell Putin to end Russia’s latest offensive, as forces have ramped up fighting in the days leading up to the summit.
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You can listen to Trump’s comments in full below.