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Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Friday in Alaska to discuss ways to settle the Ukraine conflict during their landmark summit, marking the first meeting between sitting U.S. and Russian presidents since 2021.
"It is probably obvious to everyone that the central topic will be the resolution of the Ukraine crisis," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters Thursday.
The talks are scheduled to start in Alaska at 11:30 a.m. local time (1930 GMT), Ushakov said. The meeting comes as Trump seeks to broker an end to Russia's nearly three-and-a-half year offensive in Ukraine.
The meeting will be held at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base in Alaska, with initial discussions conducted "one-on-one" between Putin and Trump, with only their interpreters in attendance, according to Ushakov.
"It will all begin tomorrow, August 15, at approximately 11:30 am local time (Moscow 22:30 or 1930GMT), with a conversation between Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Donald Trump. This meeting will be held one-on-one, with interpreters present," he added.
"Then negotiations will take place as part of the delegations, which will continue over a working breakfast," Ushakov said.
Negotiations between Putin and Trump will take place on an equal basis, with five members from each side, Ushakov confirmed. Russia's delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and economic negotiator Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
The composition of the American delegation has been determined, but Ushakov said it would be more appropriate for the U.S. side to announce it.
While Ukraine will dominate discussions, Ushakov indicated the leaders will address additional issues.
"Of course, broader issues of ensuring peace and security, as well as pressing international and regional issues, will also be addressed," he said.
Ushakov noted symbolic significance in the location, saying "It is symbolic that the meeting between Putin and Trump takes place near the burial site of Soviet pilots in Alaska."
Putin and Trump will give a joint press conference following their meeting, during which they will "summarize the results of the negotiations," Ushakov said. This would be the first joint press conference between a U.S. and Russian leader since 2018, when Putin met Trump in Helsinki.
The Alaska meeting will mark the fourth summit between the two leaders. They first met in Hamburg, Germany, during the G20 summit on July 7, 2017, followed by a meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018, and their third formal summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019.
The leaders also held several informal meetings, including brief encounters at various international summits. Some planned meetings were canceled, including a November 2018 Paris meeting and a December 2018 Buenos Aires meeting.
The summit follows recent diplomatic contacts, including a meeting between Putin and Trump's Middle East Special Representative Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin on August 6. The issue of Ukraine crisis resolution was discussed during that meeting, according to Ushakov.
British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that Trump plans to offer Putin access to rare earth elements to encourage ending the war in Ukraine. The report claimed Trump would present various profitable opportunities, including opening Alaska's natural resources to Russia and lifting some US sanctions on Russia's aviation sector.
According to the report, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is evaluating economic concessions with Russia to accelerate the ceasefire process. The proposal would allegedly give Russia access to rare earth elements in Ukrainian territories under its control.
Ukraine signed a rare earth elements agreement with the U.S. in May, with Trump announcing: "We have just concluded a rare earth elements agreement with Ukraine that has been fully approved by the legislative bodies as well. The agreement is now signed and approved, we now have access to very large quantities, very high quality rare earth elements."
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