Russian President Vladimir Putin told senior Kremlin officials that the Trump administration is “energetic and sincere” in an apparently calculated message to Washington the day before he is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska.
U.S. President Donald Trump and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin have both spoken out to express their expectations ahead of Friday’s planned in-person talks, the first time the two leaders will have met since 2019 and the first time Putin will have set foot on American soil in a decade.
The bilateral meeting will take place at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson [pictured, above] near Anchorage, the headquarters of Alaskan Command and the 11th Air Force tomorrow, the Kremlin said on Thursday morning. Opening a meeting of senior Kremlin figures on Thursday to discuss the upcoming summit, Russian state media reported that President Putin was complimentary towards the Trump administration and upbeat on talks.
A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor assigned to the 3d Wing prepares to land at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, March 28. The F-22 is an American twin-engine, all-weather, supersonic stealth fighter aircraft and provides power projection across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Moises Vasquez)
He is reported to have said: “the current US administration, which, as everyone knows, in my opinion, is making rather energetic and sincere efforts in order to halt combat, to end the crisis and reach an agreement that is in the interests of all parties involved”. President Putin said the purpose of the meeting was to “create lasting conditions for peace both between our countries and in Europe, and for the world in general”.
On the finer details, Kremlin functionary Yury Ushakov said on Thursday that preparations for the talks “have entered their final phase”, noting because they were announced at such short notice, everything is being done at pace. Difficulties being overcome included visas for the Russian delegation to land on U.S. territory in Alaska.
President Trump also spoke out on Thursday, telling Fox News Radio that his primary ambition was to speak on behalf of the soldiers of both sides of the conflict “who are being killed unnecessarily” and to persuade Putin to sit down with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as soon as possible. The President hinted a second, trilateral meeting in the U.S.-Ukraine-Russia format could happen so quickly after Friday’s talks, it may not be even worth himself and President Putin flying home, as Zelensky could fly directly to them.
“We have a lot of planes”, Trump explained.
Trump said on Thursday he feels that once he’s gone into the meeting and met Putin, he’ll know whether the talks will be productive “in the first couple of minutes” but expressed that the fact Putin is coming to Alaska at all suggests “he wants to get it done”. “I’m convinced that he’s gojng to make a deal”, Trump said.
On those next steps, President Trump said if the meeting with Putin goes well it is possible the two leaders will stage a joint press-conference. If things do not go well, he said he’d host a solo one to explain what had happened to the world media, before immediately flying back to Washington D.C..
He said: “depending on what happens with my meeting, I’m going to be calling up President Zelensky and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet. I don’t know where we’re going to have the second meeting, but we have an idea of three different locations. Including the possibility, because it would be by far the easiest, of staying in Alaska.”
He continued: “It would certainly be convenient if we had a very good meeting, I’m going to let them negotiate their deal, I’m not going to negotiate their deal… If it’s a bad meeting, I’m not calling anybody. I’m going home… But if it’s a good meeting, I’m going to call President Zelensky and the European leaders”.