Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin head to Alaska for 'high stakes' meeting

Australia Broadcast Center

a day ago

Just in case anyone needed reminding, Donald Trump spelled it out in a social media post that simply read: "High stakes!!!"
The US president is on Friday, local time, meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
His post, which appeared on his Truth social platform in the hours before he boarded Air Force One in Washington DC en route to the summit, summed up what everyone was thinking.
Then, while on board, he spoke to reporters and said he wanted to see a ceasefire "today".
The talks are the first in-person between the leaders of the respective countries since 2021, when former president Joe Biden met Mr Putin in Geneva.
Eight months later, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It's not entirely clear what will come of the meeting, which was organised in less than two weeks.
The White House has described them as "a listening exercise", while Mr Trump on Thursday said they had a "25 per cent" chance of failing.
Multiple European leaders, after an all-in phone call during the week with the US president, claimed he would try and organise a ceasefire in Alaska.
Mr Putin, for his part, earlier in the week praised Mr Trump's "energetic" efforts to stop the war in Ukraine.
But there are signs it may be difficult.
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who will also take part in the talks, turned up in Anchorage this week wearing a USSR sweatshirt.
His clothing choice, when considered in the context of Russia's ongoing invasion of the former Soviet state Ukraine, has been interpreted by some as inflammatory.
Mr Trump, who's been critical, and glowing of Mr Putin this year, described the Russian leader as "a smart guy" on Friday.
"He's been doing it for a long time but so have I ... We get along, there's a good respect level on both sides."
Mr Putin, 72, has towered over Russia's politics since the late 90s, and runs what has been described as a "power vertical" in the country, which means everyone, ultimately, answers to him.
The Kremlin delegation also incudes Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and the head of the country's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev, among several other business leaders.
Ahead of the summit, there's been reports of potential cooperation between the US and Russia on multiple resources deals.
"But they're not doing business until we get the war settled," Mr Trump said on Friday.
On Friday, hundreds of pro-Ukrainian protesters gathered in Anchorage, ahead of Mr Putin's arrival, which was due at 11am local time (5am Saturday, AEST).
Among their chanting, were demands that Russia return the estimated 20,000 children that it has taken from the war zone since its invasion.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who wasn't invited to Alaska, will monitor developments from France, with his counterpart there Emmanuel Macron.
On Friday morning, Mr Zelenskyy posted on the encrypted messaging service, Telegram: "It's time to end the war, and the necessary steps must be taken by Russia. We are counting on America."
That could prove tricky. Russia and Ukraine's stated list of demands to secure a ceasefire are still vastly different.
For instance, Ukraine has demanded it be able to join the NATO alliance — something Mr Putin has said is a deal-breaker.
Mr Trump has also suggested the two countries could engage in "land swaps", but both have ruled that out so far too.