Putin: The Russian bear back in the fold
It's been 10 years since Vladimir Putin came to the US to meet a president and tensions are running high. Donald Trump seems confident he can get a deal, Moscow however is cautious to predict the outcome.
Whatever the conclusion, is Putin, back on US soil being welcomed back into the fold by Trump?
The Trump100 team are in Alaska preparing for one of Trump's most crucial summits yet. Plus they speak to Sky's Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett to work out exactly how Putin must be thinking in the hours before the meet.
If you've got a question you'd like the Trump100 team to answer, you can email it to trump100@sky.uk.
YouTube channel.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
Warm handshakes and an invitation to Moscow: The key takeaways from Putin and Trump's summit in Alaska
The highly-anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin had been hailed as an essential and crucial step in forging a path towards peace in wartorn Ukraine. Three hours later, both leaders emerged claiming that the summit had been a 'success' and 'productive'. Yet no ceasefire deal has been struck, and little information has been given as to what was actually discussed behind closed doors. In Moscow, the meeting has been praised as a success, while in the West, it has left more questions than answers. Here are the top takeaways from Alaska: In what is likely to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Ukrainians, Putin's arrival in Anchorage was given nothing short of a VIP celebrity welcome. For the Russian leader, it marked an astounding return to the world stage, having been largely shunned from the majority of Western nations since he invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It has been 10 years since he was last in America, and has been threatened with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court if he were to travel to a member state. Over the last three years, his travel has been restricted to friendly countries such as Belarus, North Korea and China. The red carpet rollout has been hailed as a victory in Moscow, with the two leaders enthusiastically sharing two handshakes, with Putin greeted as if he were a close friend and ally. In what appeared to be an unscripted moment, Putin decided to travel in Trump's armoured limousine known as 'The Beast', rather than taking his own presidential car. In footage of them leaving the airbase, Putin can be seen sitting in the backseat and laughing. During a press conference after the three-hour meeting, which saw Putin and Trump discuss terms of ending the war with their closest aides, both leaders remained close-lipped about what had occurred behind closed doors. 'We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,' Trump told reporters. 'There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.' However, he didn't share any further details about what had been agreed, with nothing of substance revealed. Putin said the negotiations were 'held in a constructive atmosphere' but repeated that the 'root causes' of the conflict must be eliminated to achieve peace. This is likely to have caused alarm bells in Kyiv, given that Moscow has previously stated this to be Ukraine 's formal renunciation of Nato membership, as well as agreeing to demilitarisation, new elections, no foreign military involvement and recognition of Russian sovereignty over the occupied Ukrainian regions. Potential Zelensky-Putin-Trump meeting on the cards After their summit, nothing was mentioned about the prospect of a trilateral meeting, only that President Trump had a number of people to call, including Zelensky. 'We'll speak to you very soon, and probably see you again very soon,' Trump said. In a rare comment in English, Putin responded: 'Next time in Moscow.' In a Fox interview with host Sean Hannity a short while later, Trump said both Putin and Zelensky would like him to be present at a potential second meeting. 'They both want me there, and I'll be there,' he said. In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: 'President Zelenskyy will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.' An unusually quiet Trump For once, Trump took the backseat during the press conference in Alaska, allowing Putin to speak first. The Russian leader launched into a condensed history of Alaska's past as a Russian territory, taking several minutes before addressing the 'situation in Ukraine'. Despite the context of the summit, Trump also avoided any direct talk of the situation in Ukraine, only referencing that 'five, six, seven thousand people a week' are killed. There were no questions from reporters, and both leaders kept their statements vague, stating that 'great progress' had been made with little detail as to what that progress entailed. In one victory for Moscow, there was no mention of any 'severe consequences' such as further economic sanctions which Trump had threatened if a ceasefire deal wasn't reached.
The Independent
a minute ago
- The Independent
Watch Putin's reaction as reporter confronts Russian president on civilian killings
Vladimir Putin gave a bizarre response after a reporter questioned him about civilian deaths, just ahead of his meeting with President Donald Trump on Friday, 15 August. As the Russian president walked down the red carpet in front of his plane, a reporter called out, 'Will you stop killing civilians?' Putin pointed to his ear and shrugged, suggesting he couldn't hear the question. The highly anticipated summit between Trump and Putin ended without a ceasefire deal or any agreement to pause Moscow's war in Ukraine, despite both leaders describing the talks as productive.
The Guardian
2 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Zelenskyy to meet Trump on Monday after Putin summit briefing
Ukraine's president said he would fly to Washington on Monday to meet with Donald Trump after a telephone call with the US president in which he was briefed on the key points of the Alaska summit. The meeting will mark the first return to the White House for Volodymyr Zelenskyy since his infamous row with Trump in late February. Zelenskyy said that his hour-long one-on-one conversation with Trump was 'long and substantive'. 'President Trump informed [me] about his meeting with the Russian leader and the main points of their discussion,' Zelenskyy wrote, adding that Ukraine supported Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between the two men and Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy did not spell out what the key points of discussion between Trump and Putin were, while the president's chief communications adviser said that they 'haven't heard anything' about a possible air ceasefire before a leaders summit in response to a social media post from a journalist. European leaders joined the call for a further half an hour, Zelenskyy added, emphasising that 'it is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America'. There were also 'positive signals' from the US, Zelenskyy said, 'regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security', echoing diplomatic language from last week in the run-up to the summit. Previously, the US has declined to spell out how it might help prevent a future outbreak of fighting as part of a peace agreement, leading to speculation that Washington was looking to leave the safeguarding of Ukraine almost entirely to Europe.
