The meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will take place on August 15 in Anchorage, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing on Wednesday.
Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska
“On Friday morning, President Trump will travel across the country to Anchorage, Alaska, for a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A brutal war between Russia and Ukraine has erupted under the incompetent leadership of Joe Biden, but President Trump is determined to end this war and stop the killing. As the president has repeatedly stated, he will always stand firmly for peace and partnership, if at all possible. There is no leader in the world who is as committed to preventing or ending wars as President Donald Trump,” she said.
The White House also said that the Alaska summit was made possible because Vladimir Putin asked Donald Trump for a meeting. According to Leavitt, the United States and Russia discussed many possible venues for a meeting between Putin and Trump. She noted that Washington considers the Russian leader’s upcoming visit to Alaska an honour.
Leavitt also said she was “very confident” that Trump would remain optimistic after his meeting with Putin on August 15.
Trump’s hopes
The purpose of Trump’s meeting with Putin is to better understand Russia’s position on achieving peace in Ukraine. Trump hopes that a trilateral summit involving Russia, the US and Ukraine can take place in the future.
Trump is interested in discussing US-Russia relations with Putin, but wants to devote the meeting in Alaska mainly to Ukraine. Trump does not want to draw red lines on Ukraine in relations with Russia and calls on Moscow and Kyiv to engage in dialogue, including on humanitarian issues.
At the same time, Leavitt refrained from answering a question about a “territorial exchange” between Russia and Ukraine, saying that Trump would discuss this with Putin.
Commenting at a briefing on Trump’s statement about his intention to visit Russia, she said that there may be “plans to visit Russia in the future.”
US and Russian ministers on summit
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a telephone conversation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The main topic of the conversation was the upcoming meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Lavrov and Rubio confirmed their mutual desire for a successful summit.
Lavrov will take part in the summit in Alaska, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Foreign Ministry Alexey Fadeev said.
“Yes, I can confirm Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov’s participation in this event, which is scheduled to take place in Alaska this coming Friday,” he said at a briefing.
Exchange of territories issue
Fadeev also commented on the possibility of discussing the exchange of territories between Russia and Ukraine at the Russian-American summit. He emphasised that Russia’s territorial structure is enshrined in the Constitution.
“The territorial structure of the Russian Federation is enshrined in our country’s Constitution. That says it all. Therefore, as far as the Russian delegation’s goals in the talks in Alaska are concerned, they are dictated exclusively by national interests,” Fadeev said at the briefing.
