US President Donald Trump will meet Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, in Alaska on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine.
Though it is the first direct talk between both leaders
since Trump’s return to the White House in January, it is unclear what the
demands or negotiations would be.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not expected to
participate and will not be part of the meeting, which has raised concerns from
Kyiv and European leaders about Ukraine being excluded from possible peace
talks.
“Out of respect I’ll call him first,” Trump said of
Zelensky.
The White House and Kremlin announced the meeting after
Steve Witkoff, US special envoy, visited Putin last week.
On Monday, Trump said his meeting with Putin would be a
moment to feel out the Russian leader’s parameters for ending the war in
Ukraine.
The White House also downplayed expectations for an
immediate peace deal, saying the meeting would be a “listening exercise”.
“Look, only one party that’s involved in this war is going
to be present, and so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more
firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an
end,” Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, said on Tuesday.
“Sitting face to face, rather than speaking over the
telephone, will give this president the best indication of how to end this war
and where this is headed.”
Russia has been largely quiet about the upcoming meeting.
Earlier this year, Trump said he was “very angry” with Putin
and threatened to target Russia’s economy with taxes if ceasefire negotiations
failed.
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