Trump-Putin summit to be held at US military base near Alaska
The two leaders will meet on Friday to discuss an end to the more than three-year war in Ukraine, in what will be their first standalone summit since a 2018 meeting in Helsinki.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson -- located near Alaska state capital Anchorage -- is made up of the Elmendorf Air Force base and the Army's Fort Richardson, which were combined in 2010.
The base is the headquarters for entities including Alaska Command -- responsible for US forces in the state -- as well as the Alaskan NORAD Region, which helps provide aerospace control and warning.
The US military regularly conducts intercepts of Russian aircraft that venture near American airspace in Alaska, contacting Moscow's planes visually or electronically.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump has spent the first months of his second term in office trying to broker a peace accord, an effort that has so far failed to yield a breakthrough.
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Arab News
24 minutes ago
- Arab News
Trump says Putin ready to make deal on Ukraine
MOSCOW/LONDON/KYIV: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he thought Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on ending his war in Ukraine after the Russian president floated the prospect of a nuclear arms agreement on the eve of their summit in Alaska. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his European allies have intensified their efforts this week to prevent any deal between the US and Russia emerging from Friday's summit that leaves Ukraine vulnerable to future attack. 'I think he's going to make a deal,' Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well, he would call Zelensky and European leaders afterwards, and that if it went badly, he would not. The aim of Friday's talks with Putin is to set up a second meeting including Ukraine, Trump said, adding: 'I don't know that we're going to get an immediate ceasefire.' Putin earlier spoke to his most senior ministers and security officials as he prepared for a meeting with Trump in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday that could shape the endgame to the largest war in Europe since World War Two. In televised comments, Putin said the US was 'making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict.' This was happening, Putin said, 'in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole — if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.' His comments signalled that Russia will raise nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump. A Kremlin aide said Putin and Trump would also discuss the 'huge untapped potential' for Russia-US economic ties. A senior Eastern European official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Putin would try to distract Trump from Ukraine at the talks by offering him possible progress on nuclear arms control or something business-related. 'We hope Trump won't be fooled by the Russians; he understands all (these) dangerous things,' the official said, adding that Russia's only goal was to avoid any new sanctions and have existing sanctions lifted. 'Like a chess game' Trump said there would be a press conference after the talks, but that he did not know whether it would be joint. He also said there would be 'a give and take' on boundaries and land. 'The second meeting is going to be very, very, very important. This meeting sets up like a chess game. This (first) meeting sets up a second meeting, but there is a 25 percent chance that this meeting will not be a successful meeting,' he said. Trump said it would be up to Putin and Zelensky to strike an agreement, saying: 'I'm not going to negotiate their deal.' Russia controls around a fifth of Ukraine, and Zelensky and the Europeans worry that a deal could cement those gains, rewarding Putin for 11 years of efforts to seize Ukrainian land and emboldening him to expand further into Europe. An EU diplomat said it would be 'scary to see how it all unfolds in the coming hours. Trump had very good calls yesterday with Europe, but that was yesterday.' Trump had shown willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine at a last-ditch virtual meeting with European leaders and Zelensky on Wednesday, European leaders said, though he made no public mention of them afterwards. Friday's summit, the first Russia-US summit since June 2021, comes at one of the toughest moments for Ukraine in a war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump had said the transatlantic NATO alliance should not be part of any security guarantees designed to protect Ukraine from future attacks in a post-war settlement. However, Trump also said the US and all willing allies should be part of the security guarantees, Macron added. Expanding on that, a European official told Reuters that Trump said on the call he was willing to provide some security guarantees for Europe, without spelling out what they would be. It 'felt like a big step forward,' said the official, who did not want to be named. It was not immediately clear what such guarantees could mean in practice. On Wednesday, Trump threatened 'severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine and has warned of economic sanctions if his meeting on Friday proves fruitless. Russia is likely to resist Ukraine and Europe's demands and has previously said its stance had not changed since it was first detailed by Putin in June 2024.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Diplomacy or defiance: Iran rulers face existential choice after US-Israeli strikes
Weakened by war and diplomatic deadlock, Iran 's clerical elite stands at a crossroads: defy pressure to halt its nuclear activity and risk further Israeli and US attacks, or concede and risk a leadership fracture. For now, the Islamic Republic establishment is focusing on immediate survival over longer-term political strategy. A fragile ceasefire ended a 12-day war in June that began with Israeli airstrikes, followed by US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. Both sides declared victory but the war exposed the military vulnerabilities and punctured the image of deterrence maintained by a major Middle East power and Israel's arch regional foe. Three Iranian insiders told Reuters the political establishment now views negotiations with the US – aimed at resolving a decades-long dispute over its nuclear ambitions – as the only way to avoid further escalation and existential peril. The strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets, which included killings of top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and nuclear scientists, shocked Tehran, kicking off just a day before a planned sixth round of talks with Washington. While Tehran accused Washington of 'betraying diplomacy,' some hardline lawmakers and military commanders blamed officials who advocated diplomacy with Washington, arguing the dialogue proved a 'strategic trap' that distracted the armed forces. However, one political insider, who like others requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, said the leadership now leaned towards talks as 'they've seen the cost of military confrontation.' President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that resuming talks with the United States 'does not mean we intend to surrender,' addressing hardliners opposing further nuclear diplomacy after the war. He added: 'You don't want to talk? What do you want to do? ... Do you want to go (back) to war?' His remarks were criticized by hardliners including IRGC commander Aziz Ghazanfari, who warned that foreign policy demands discretion and that careless statements could have serious consequences. Ultimately, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei holds the final say. Insiders said he and the clerical power structure had reached a consensus to resume nuclear negotiations, viewing them as vital to the Islamic Republic's survival. Iran's foreign ministry said no decision has been made on the resumption of nuclear talks. Dynamics and external pressure US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned they will not hesitate to hit Iran again if it resumes enrichment of uranium, a possible pathway to developing nuclear weapons. Last week, Trump warned that if Iran restarted enrichment despite the June strikes on its key production plants, 'we'll be back.' Tehran responded with a vow of forceful retaliation. Still, Tehran fears future strikes could cripple political and military coordination, and so has formed a defense council to ensure command continuity even if the 86-year-old Khamenei must relocate to a remote hideaway to avoid assassination. Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC, said that if Iran seeks to rapidly rebuild its nuclear capacity without securing diplomatic or security guarantees, 'a US-Israeli strike won't just be possible – it will be all but inevitable.' 'Re-entering talks could buy Tehran valuable breathing room and economic relief, but without swift US reciprocity it risks a hardline backlash, deepening elite divisions, and fresh accusations of surrender,' Vatanka said. Tehran insists on its right to uranium enrichment as part of what it maintains is a peaceful nuclear energy program, while the Trump administration demands a total halt – a core sticking point in the diplomatic standoff. Renewed United Nations sanctions under the so-called 'snapback' mechanism, pushed by three European powers, loom as a further threat if Tehran refuses to return to negotiations or if no verifiable deal to curb its nuclear activity results. Tehran has threatened to quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But insiders say this is a pressure tactic, not a realistic plan – as exiting the NPT would telegraph an Iranian race for nuclear bombs and invite US and Israeli intervention. A senior Western diplomat said Iran's rulers were vulnerable as never before, and any defiance was a gamble liable to backfire at a time of rising domestic unrest, impaired deterrence power and Israel's disabling of Iran's militia proxies in wars around the Middle East since 2023. Among ordinary Iranians, weariness over war and international isolation runs deep, compounded by a growing sense of failed governance. The oil-based economy, already hobbled by sanctions and state mismanagement, is under worsening strain. Daily blackouts afflict cities around the country of 87 million people, forcing many businesses to cut back. Reservoirs have receded to record lows, prompting warnings from the government of a looming 'national water emergency.' Many Iranians – even those opposed to the Shia theocracy – rallied behind the country during the June war, but now face lost incomes and intensified repression. Alireza, 43, a furniture merchant in Tehran, said he is considering downsizing his business and relocating his family outside the capital amid fears of further air attack. 'This is the result of 40 years of failed policies,' he said, alluding to Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed monarchy. 'We are a resource-rich country and yet people don't have water and electricity. My customers have no money. My business is collapsing.' At least 20 people across Iran interviewed by phone echoed Alireza's sentiment – that while most Iranians do not want another war, they are also losing faith in the establishment's capacity to govern wisely. Despite broad discontent, large-scale protests have not broken out. Instead, authorities have tightened security, ramped up pressure on pro-democracy activists, accelerated executions and cracked down on alleged Israeli-linked spy networks – fueling fears of widening surveillance and repression. However, sidelined moderates have resurfaced in state media after years of exclusion. Some analysts see this as a move to ally public anxiety and signal the possibility of reform from within – without 'regime change' that would shift core policies.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
US says stable West Bank in line with Trump goal for regional peace
The United States on Thursday responded to Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's announcement that work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank by saying that a stable West Bank is in line with the Trump administration's goal for peace in the region. Asked about Smotrich's statement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the so-called E1 development, a spokesperson for the US State Department said the US remained focused on ending the war in Gaza and ensuring Hamas will never govern that territory again. 'A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration's goal to achieve peace in the region,' the spokesperson said, while referring to the Israeli government for further information.
