Trump says Putin summit could fail, promises Ukraine say
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet at an air base in Alaska. Trump has said he would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in any decisions. Photo / Various Sources, AFP
Zelenskyy has refused any territorial concessions to Russia, which has ramped up attacks and made sharp gains on the battlefield just before the summit.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any future deal needed to ensure Ukraine's security.
'To achieve peace, I think we all recognise that there'll have to be some conversation about security guarantees,' Rubio told reporters in Washington, saying he was 'hopeful' about the summit.
Trump has previously ruled out letting Ukraine join Nato and backed Russia's stance that Kyiv's aspirations to enter the transatlantic alliance triggered the war.
Ukraine and most of its European allies reject Putin's narrative and point to his remarks denying the historical legitimacy of Ukraine.
Shifting Trump tone
Trump had boasted that he could end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House in January.
But his calls to Putin – and intense pressure on Zelenskyy to accept concessions – have failed to move the Russian leader and Trump has warned of 'very severe consequences' if Putin keeps snubbing his overtures.
Putin on Thursday welcomed US efforts to end the conflict and said that talks could also help yield an agreement on nuclear arms control.
'The US administration... is making quite energetic and sincere efforts to end the fighting,' Putin told a meeting of top officials in Moscow.
The talks are set to begin at 11.30am on Friday (local time) at the Elmendorf Air Force Base, a major US military installation in Alaska that has been crucial in monitoring Russia.
'This conversation will take place in a one-on-one format, naturally with the participation of interpreters,' Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow.
He said that delegations would continue discussions over a working lunch and that Putin and Trump would hold a joint news conference.
The White House has not confirmed any plans for a joint news conference.
Trump faced heated criticism over his joint news conference after his 2018 summit with Putin in Helsinki where he sided with Russia over US intelligence in accepting Putin's denials of interfering in the 2016 US election to help Trump.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's president, right, arrives for a meeting with Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, at 10 Downing Street in London, UK, on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. Photo / Getty Images
European support for Zelenskyy
Zelenskyy, who will not join Friday's summit in Alaska, met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, after talks a day earlier in Berlin.
Starmer greeted the Ukrainian leader with a warm hug and handshake on the steps of his Downing St residence and later voiced solidarity.
European leaders expressed relief after a call with Trump on Wednesday, saying he appeared focused on a ceasefire rather than concessions by Ukraine.
A day before the summit, Ukraine fired dozens of drones at Russia, wounding several people and sparking fires at an oil refinery in the southern city of Volgograd.
Russia, meanwhile, said its troops had captured two new settlements in eastern Ukraine, where it has been advancing for months.
Diplomacy since Russia's invasion has largely failed to secure agreements beyond swaps of prisoners.
Russia said on Thursday it had returned 84 prisoners to Ukraine in exchange for an equal number of Russian POWs in the latest exchange.
- Agence France-Presse
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