Trump, Putin Head to High-Stakes Alaska Summit With Clashing Objectives
Putin is coming to Alaska with a very different goal: keeping in Trump's good graces while pursuing his longer-term ambition of reasserting Moscow's dominance over Kyiv.
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Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pope Leo XIV prays for peace as US-Russia summit over Ukraine war gets under way
Pope Leo XIV prayed for a peaceful end to the 'increasingly deafening violence' of wars around the world as he celebrated a Catholic feast day on the same day as a high-stakes US-Russia summit over the war in Ukraine. History's first American pope did not mention the meeting on Friday in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. But he has constantly called for dialogue and an end to the conflict, including in conversations with Mr Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. On Friday Leo recalled that the August 15 feast day dedicated to the Virgin Mary was declared a dogma by Pope Pius XII at the height of the Second World War. 'He (Pius) hoped that human lives would never again be destroyed by wars,' Leo said. 'How relevant are these words today? Unfortunately, even today, we feel powerless in the face of the spread of increasingly deafening violence, insensitive to any movement of humanity.' The pope prayed for hope for a peaceful future. 'We must not resign ourselves to the prevalence of the logic of armed conflict,' he said. Leo was not the only religious leader offering prayers for peace. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, prayed for a successful outcome of the US-Russia summit during a visit to the Turkish island of Gokceada, home to an ethnic Greek community and his birthplace. 'Enlighten the leaders who will meet tomorrow in Alaska, that they may bring peace to the world, end these murderous wars, stop the shedding of blood, let reason prevail, and let justice and mutual respect reign throughout the world,' he said on Thursday. 'There is room here for everyone. We need not kill one another to make space.' The 85-year-old was visiting the island for the August 15 celebration of the Virgin Mary, which is also an important date in the Orthodox Christian calendar. Leo spoke from the main piazza of Castel Gandolfo, the hill town south of Rome that is home to a papal estate and gardens. He has spent a chunk of the summer at the estate, extending now for the second time his holiday to take advantage of the quiet and relatively cooler calm of the property overlooking Lake Alban. It was here that Leo met with Mr Zelensky for the second time on July 9. Leo had spoken by telephone with Mr Putin on June 4 and, according to the Vatican, 'urged Russia to make a gesture that would promote peace, emphasising the importance of dialogue for establishing positive contacts between the parties and seeking solutions to the conflict'. Upon arrival in Castel Gandolfo earlier this week, Leo told reporters that he hoped the Trump-Putin summit would produce at least a ceasefire, saying the war had gone on for too long with too many dead, and no end in sight. Leo, who marks his 100th day as pope on Saturday, will spend the long weekend here, breaking on Sunday to have lunch with the poor people of the Albano diocese. He is scheduled to return to the Vatican on Tuesday, closing out a six-week holiday period punctuated by spells back at the Vatican, most significantly to preside over the one million-strong Holy Year celebration for young people earlier this month.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
University of Alaska dorms to host up to 750 Russian delegates in town for Trump-Putin summit
The University of Alaska Anchorage is expecting hundreds of Russian delegates who are in the city for the summit between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin to stay in student dorms. 'There may be up to 750 people staying on campus between the U.S. and Russian delegations,' vice chancellor Ryan Buchholdt said in an email to the Alaskan newspaper, Anchorage Daily News. The school can house around 12,000 people. This week marks the start of the school calendar for those returning from the summer break. The summit is going to be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, about a 10-minute drive from Anchorage, reports Alaska's News Source. The meeting will mark the first time Trump and Putin have met in person since 2018. 'In addition to the dorms, we do have the Alaska Airlines Center [a sports arena that has a 5,000-seat capacity] that has been set up with beds, meeting most of the need, mostly from the Russian delegation side,' Buchholdt also told Alaska's News Source. University police are working closely with state and federal law agencies to monitor security, Buchholdt added. 'Our main concern is making sure anyone who is staying on campus, whether they are from the United States or Russia or any other locality, is safe,' Buchholdt said, 'and is able to do the mission that they're here to do and go back home safely.' On Thursday, some of the delegates had already arrived as of Thursday afternoon, according to university spokesperson Katie Bender. Flight tracking data showed that at least one flight from Moscow had touched down in Anchorage that afternoon. 'The delegations are in separate locations. For security purposes, we are not able to share where the delegations are located,' Bender added. Alyeska resort, located about 40 miles south of Anchorage, informed local press that they were fully booked for the weekend, and the website of the local hotel, Captain Cook, was also fully booked. The hotel site showed one remaining room in a hostel, at a staggeringly raised price of $150 a night on Friday. Town mayor Suzanne LaFrance explained that finding accommodation at the height of the tourist season is hard enough as it is, let alone with a significant political event taking center stage. 'I know that people are looking at creative solutions. I don't have any specific details about that [housing delegations in UOA], but I know that the university is engaged in those conversations, and I'm optimistic that we'll come up with some options for folks,' she said to Alaska's News Source. At the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, news and camera crews were seen rolling in on Thursday morning. Locals watched on as officials gathered in the vicinity. 'It's kind of a big deal, I mean, do we all want World War III?' one man told Alaska's News Source. The two leaders will hold peace talks regarding the future of Russia and Ukraine, amid a deadly war that has killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides. Earlier on Thursday, Putin praised Trump's 'energetic and sincere efforts to stop' the war in Ukraine. More than a million Russian troops have been killed or injured since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, reports the British Ministry of Defense. Meanwhile, Ukrainian personnel fatalities and casualties have amounted to around 400,000, says the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Ahead of the summit, Trump vowed that Putin was 'not going to mess around with me,' as he hopes to secure a ceasefire deal. The Independent contacted the university, along with the Anchorage tourism board, for comment.
New York Times
4 minutes ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Trump Flies to Alaska for High-Stakes Summit With Putin
President Trump boarded Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Friday. The leaders of the United States and Russia are set to hold talks at an American military base in Alaska to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022. President Trump plans to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Friday in Alaska. The focus of their high-stakes summit will be to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022. Mr. Trump has sought to broker peace in a conflict he once boasted he could resolve in a day. He has expressed frustration with Mr. Putin recently over what he described as the Russian leader's 'meaningless' gestures toward peace. But Ukraine, whose president wasn't invited to the talks, and its European allies are worried about any deal that might be struck without Kyiv's involvement. Here's what to know about the summit. When are Trump and Putin meeting? The White House said the leaders would begin meeting at 11 a.m. local time (3 p.m. Eastern) on Friday. The Kremlin said Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin would first hold a 'tête-à-tête' discussion with interpreters, followed by negotiations by delegations and 'a working breakfast.' The two leaders are expected to hold a joint news conference at the end, the Kremlin added. The New York Times plans to livestream the news conference. Mr. Trump was scheduled to be on the ground in Alaska for only a few hours, departing for Washington at 5:45 p.m. local time (9:45 p.m. Eastern), the White House said. Where is the summit? The leaders plan to meet at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Mr. Trump has visited the base several times since he first took office in 2017, but Friday's trip will be the first stop in Alaska of his current term. A White House official familiar with the planning of the event told The New York Times that holding the meeting on the base would make it easier for Mr. Trump to make a one-day trip. An American military base offered extra security, the official said. Alaska has deep ties to Russia, which colonized the region in the 18th century. In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for $7.2 million, but Russian-speaking communities remain in the state. What is expected to come out of it? Mr. Trump dimmed expectations for a possible breakthrough with Mr. Putin, saying on Monday that he was going to see 'what he has in mind.' On Thursday, Mr. Trump said, 'We're going to find out where everybody stands,' adding: 'If it's a bad meeting, it'll end very quickly, and if it's a good meeting, we're going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future.' Trans-Atlantic discussions on Wednesday that included President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine were held to close ranks with Mr. Trump before the Friday meeting. European leaders said that they had hammered out a strategy with Mr. Trump, including an insistence that any peace plan must start with a cease-fire and not be negotiated without Ukraine at the table. Will Zelensky be there? No, Mr. Zelensky was not invited. Mr. Zelensky and European leaders have cautioned that Mr. Putin could try to drive a wedge between the United States, Ukraine and its European allies. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he would call Mr. Zelensky, then European leaders, after the Alaska meeting. Who else is attending? Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin are expected to meet one on one, said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary. But each was bringing other officials to Alaska, including economic officials, a possible sign that their talks would extend beyond the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin said that the Russian delegation would include Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov; Yuri V. Ushakov, a foreign policy aide to Mr. Putin; Defense Minister Andrei R. Belousov; Finance Minister Anton G. Siluanov; and Kirill А. Dmitriev, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund and Mr. Putin's special representative for investment and economic cooperation. The White House said that among those traveling aboard Air Force One with Mr. Trump would be Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; the C.I.A. director, John Ratcliffe; and Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump's special envoy, who has held several meetings this year with Mr. Putin.
