On the eve of a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump declared Thursday that he would not be swayed by the Kremlin leader and promised Ukraine would have a role in any decision concerning its future.
Putin is expected to land in Alaska on Friday at Trump’s invitation, marking his first trip to a Western nation since ordering Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine—a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
With Russian forces making fresh gains, the Kremlin announced that Trump and Putin would meet privately, raising alarm in European capitals over fears that Moscow could pressure Trump into backing a settlement that bypasses Kyiv.
“I am president, and he’s not going to mess around with me,” Trump told reporters at the White House. He added, “I’ll know within the first two minutes, three minutes, four minutes or five minutes… whether or not we’re going to have a good meeting or a bad meeting. And if it’s a bad meeting, it’ll end very quickly, and if it’s a good meeting, we’re going to end up getting peace in the pretty near future.”
Trump, who gave the summit a “one-in-four” chance of failing, has faced criticism before for his perceived warmth toward Putin, particularly after a 2018 meeting in Helsinki where he appeared to side with the Russian leader over US intelligence findings on election interference.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has condemned the Alaska talks as a reward for Putin, was not invited to the initial meeting and has rejected Trump’s calls to cede territory. However, Trump said no final agreement would be reached without Zelensky and floated the possibility of a follow-up three-way summit in Alaska.
“The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s going to be a meeting where they make a deal. And I don’t want to use the word ‘divvy’ things up. But you know, to a certain extent, it’s not a bad term,” Trump told Fox News Radio.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that any deal must include “security guarantees” for Ukraine, although Trump has previously supported Russia’s rejection of NATO membership for Kyiv.
Trump has long claimed he could end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House, yet his outreach to both Putin and Zelensky has so far failed to produce results. He recently warned of “very severe consequences” if Putin continues to rebuff his proposals.
The talks will take place at 11:30 am Friday at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, a key hub for US monitoring of Russian military activity.
Meanwhile, Zelensky met in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who pledged continued support, following a similar show of solidarity from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Merz urged Putin to seize the “opportunity” for a ceasefire, stating, “The goal must be a summit also attended by President Zelensky… a ceasefire must be agreed. Trump can now take a major step toward peace.”
Russia’s battlefield advances prompted Ukraine on Thursday to order the evacuation of families with children from Druzhkivka and nearby villages in the east, where Moscow’s troops recently broke through.
Diplomatic efforts have largely stalled since the invasion began, apart from occasional prisoner exchanges. On Thursday, Russia said it returned 84 Ukrainian captives in exchange for an equal number of Russian POWs.
In the United States, the conflict remains politically divisive. A Pew Research Center survey found that 59 percent of Americans doubt Trump’s judgment on the war.
In Anchorage, the global spotlight has prompted protests and mixed reactions among residents. “I think it’s a travesty to invite a war criminal like Putin to the United States. My primary concern is that he’s going to negotiate away everything and it’s not going to be possible to have a peaceful solution,” said Jay Ahuja, 62, a retiree from North Carolina.
But Kimberly Brown, 63, visiting from Ohio, saw it differently: “I just think that Trump is the best person to negotiate world peace. And Alaska is the perfect place for it.”
