Why are Trump and Putin meeting in Alaska?
Why are Putin and Trump meeting?
Trump has been pushing hard - without much success - to end the war in Ukraine. As a candidate, Trump pledged that he could end the war within 24 hours after taking office. He has also repeatedly claimed that the war "never would have happened" if he had been president at the time of Russia's invasion.Last month, Trump told the BBC that he was "disappointed" by Putin.Frustrations grew and Trump set a 8 August deadline for Putin to agree to an immediate ceasefire or face more severe US sanctions. As the deadline hit, Trump instead announced he and Putin would meet in person on 15 August. The meeting comes after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held "highly productive" talks with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, according to Trump.
Is Ukraine attending the meeting?
A White House official has said that Trump is willing to hold a trilateral meeting which would also include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.But, for now, it remains a Trump-Putin summit, as initially requested by the Russian leader.In response to the news of the Alaska summit, Zelensky has said any agreements without input from Kyiv will amount to "dead decisions".And on Friday, after Trump said there would need to "be some swapping of territories" in order for Moscow and Kyiv to reach an agreement, Zelensky spoke out on Telegram."We will not reward Russia for what it has perpetrated," Zelensky wrote. "Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine, are also decisions against peace."Speaking to Fox New on Sunday, US Vice-President JD Vance suggested that Zelensky could join Putin and Trump for talks at a later date.But for now, he said it would not be "productive" for Zelensky to meet Putin ahead of Trump's meeting with the Russian leader in Alaska. "Fundamentally, the president of the United States has to be the one to bring these two together," he said.
What do both sides hope to get out of it?
The US president claimed on Friday that a deal "to stop the killing" is "very close". He also has reportedly floated some thoughts on what may be necessary for both sides to agree to stop the fighting.While both Russia and Ukraine say they, too, want the war to end, both appear to want things that the other harshly opposes. Ukraine has been adamant that it won't accept Russian control of regions it seized, most notably Crimea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the idea outright. "There's nothing to talk about here. This is against our constitution," he said. So far, Putin has not budged from his territorial demands, Ukraine's neutrality and the future size of its army. Russia invaded the country, in part, over Putin's belief that Ukraine was becoming westernised and accused the Western defensive alliance, Nato, of using the country to gain a foothold to bring its troops closer to Russia's borders.
The Trump administration has been attempting to sway European leaders on a ceasefire deal that would hand over swathes of Ukrainian territory to Russia, the BBC's US partner CBS News reports.The deal would allow Russia to keep control of the Crimean peninsula, and take the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which is made up of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to sources familiar with the talks.Russia illegally occupied Crimea in 2014 and its forces control the majority of the Donbas region.Under the deal, Russia would have to give up the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where it currently has some military control."There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both," Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. Vance, in his Fox interview, said any future deal is "not going to make anybody super happy"."You've got to make peace here… you can't finger point," he said. "The way to peace is to have a decisive leader to sit down and force people to come together."
Where will Trump and Putin meet?
On Friday evening, Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social that a "highly anticipated meeting" between him and Putin would take place on 15 August in the "great state of Alaska". "Further details to follow," he said. Trump had said the meeting location would be "a very popular one for a number of reasons". The exact location of their meeting in Alaska has not been released.
Why did they choose a US site?
The US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, giving a historical significance to the meeting.Russian presidential assistant Yuri Ushakov said the location is "quite logical" and that both countries are neighbours, with the Bering Strait dividing them. "It seems quite logical for our delegation simply to fly over the Bering Strait and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska."The last time Alaska took centre stage in an American diplomatic event was in March 2021, when Joe Biden's newly minted diplomatic and national security team met their Chinese counterparts in Anchorage.The sit-down turned acrimonious, with the Chinese accusing the Americans of "condescension and hypocrisy".
ANALYSIS: Why Trump-Putin relationship has souredEXPLAINER: Why did Putin's Russia invade Ukraine?VISUALS: Tracking the war in mapsGLOBAL FALLOUT: How the global economy could be impactedVERIFY: Russian attacks on Ukraine double since Trump inaugurationGROUND REPORT: On Ukraine's front line, twisted wreckage shows sanctions haven't yet stopped Russia
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Channel 4
10 minutes ago
- Channel 4
Helping starving Gazans from 3,000 miles away in Manchester
Ghassan was sitting in his Manchester room when we arrived to meet him. He was answering phone calls from his team trying to work out how many families they could feed – 3,000 miles away in Gaza. Ghassan Ghaben, who is Palestinian and was born in Gaza, is the co-founder of Reviving Gaza, a mutual aid group set up to help displaced Palestinian families. He runs the group with his sister Amal, who's now based in Egypt, and a network of volunteers inside the strip. At first, their focus was on helping people survive the bombardment or displacement. But now, they're are simply trying to feed as many people as possible. In March, Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza. By May, some aid resumed but under new restrictions. The UN has since warned that the worst-case scenario of famine is currently unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Starvation is spreading and children under five are dying from hunger-related causes. Ghassan says: 'The Israelis don't wany any organisations working efficiently in Gaza and distributing food the way it should be distributed. They want chaos. Those big organisations are not able to do any work but for us it's different. We have the people from there and they have the contacts.' 'The Israelis don't wany any organisations working efficiently in Gaza and distributing food the way it should be distributed. They want chaos.' – Ghassan Ghaben The Israeli authorities deny they are blocking the flow of aid and say the UN are failing to distribute it. They also accuse Hamas of stealing it, but internal US government analysis also found no evidence of systematic theft of US-funded aid. But since May, the main way to get aid has been at the controversial US-Israel backed GHF sites. Not everyone is able to access aid distribution sites and prices have skyrocketed in Gaza's markets. So the Reviving Gaza team are stepping in, using money raised from donations to buy food that is too expensive for most Gazans – and then distributing it more evenly. Amal says they're focused on helping the most vulnerable 'orphans, mothers alone, and the elderly', those who have no way of accessing food. But with limited access to food and funds, they can only feed families day by day. Later in the afternoon, Ghassan calls Ola, one of the team's volunteers in Gaza. The 20 year old smiles as Ghassan calls but her smile hides the risks of the job. At least three Reviving Gaza volunteers have been killed, among them Frans Al Salmi – a talented artist and life-long friend of Amal's who was in charge of aid distribution in the north. 'I know she's not with me now but her soul is with me always. I open her messages everyday.' For Amal, Frans's legacy is about Gazans helping each other survive; one day at a time. Only 14 per cent of aid needed has entered Gaza since May, Israeli data shows 'Skin on top of bones': Gaza aid coming in, but not enough Should Israel be held accountable for Gaza aid queue deaths?
The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Maine can't enforce foreign election interference law that appeals court calls unconstitutional
Your support helps us to tell the story Read more Support Now From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Maine can't enforce a voter-approved foreign election interference law that a federal appeals court said likely violates the Constitution by limiting political donations. Voters overwhelmingly approved a ban on foreign governments and companies with 5% or more foreign government ownership from donating to state referendum races. The law is one of a handful around the country that attempt to limit foreign influence on U.S. elections. The law has been on hold pending federal lawsuits from utilities companies and media organizations that raise constitutional challenges about it. The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston said in court papers in July that it affirmed a lower-court ruling that the law likely violates the First Amendment. 'The prohibition is overly broad, silencing U.S. corporations based on the mere possibility that foreign shareholders might try to influence its decisions on political speech, even where those foreign shareholders may be passive owners that exercise no influence or control over the corporation's political spending," wrote Judge Lara Montecalvo. The matter was sent back to the lower court, where it will proceed, and there has been no substantive movement on it in recent weeks, said Danna Hayes, a spokesperson for the Maine attorney general's office, on Monday. The law is on the state's books, but the state cannot enforce it while legal challenges are still pending, Hayes said. Voters approved the law in 2023 by a margin of 86% to 14%. It followed a multimillion-dollar effort by a Canadian-owned utility to influence a project in Maine in which it's a partner. The law reflects the will of Maine residents to ensure clean elections, said Rick Bennett, chair of Protect Maine Elections, the committee formed to support the 2023 ballot initiative. He said the fight to save the law was still ongoing. 'Mainers spoke with one voice: our elections should belong to us, not to corporations owned or influenced by foreign governments whose interests may not align with our own,' Bennett said in a statement.
The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's new AI chatbot keeps fact-checking him
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Donald Tump's new AI-powered search engine has been contradicting the US president on some of his core policies since launching last week. The Truth Search AI feature, which is integrated into the web browser of Mr Trump's social media platform Truth Social, is designed to deliver 'direct, reliable answers', according to its creators. The chatbot's responses typically draw from right wing and pro-Trump news sources like Fox News and Newsmax, however it did not support recent statements made by Trump. On Friday, Mr Trump said that his tariff policy has had a 'huge positive impact' on the stock market, but the AI tool responded saying 'the evidence does not support this claim'. First reported by The Washington Post , Truth Search AI also called the US president's claim that the 2020 election was stolen as 'baseless'. When asked about a recent post by Mr Trump on Truth Social about crime in Washington, D.C., the AI bot responded that it is 'not totally out of control'. Users on social media also shared instances of the new AI bot claiming that Barack Obama is the most popular president of the century, and that the Trump family's crypto projects pose a conflict of interest. Trump Media said in a press release unveiling the new feature that its mission was to 'end Big Tech's assault on free speech by opening up the internet and giving people their voice's back'. The AI feature is developed by the controversial artificial intelligence company Perplexity, which recently faced criticism after security firm Cloudflare alleged that it was secretly scrape websites without their permission. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince said the company was acting 'like North Korean hackers', however Perplexity dismissed the claims. Trump Media did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent .
