The Elmendorf-Richardson military base is the only one in the country that meets the security requirements for this type of high-level diplomatic meetings.

More details are gradually emerging about the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. The two leaders will meet in Alaska this Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine. Specifically, they will do so at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base, less than ten kilometers from Anchorage, according to CNN on Wednesday.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is the only one in the country that meets the security requirements for this type of high-level diplomatic meeting. Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska, located on the shores of Cook Inlet and surrounded by the Chugach Mountains. This Tuesday was the venue for a pre-presidential meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's team and their American counterparts.

Although Elmendorf Air Force Base was established in 1940, the current complex was born from the merger of Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson in 2010. It houses approximately 32,000 soldiers, of whom 5,500 are permanent residents. In addition to military personnel, there is also a civilian population, necessary to facilitate the complex's operations. In total, more than 34 hectares of land comprise the United States' primary strategic platform for power projection, according to its official website.

The base is the headquarters of Alaskan Command (ALCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is responsible for air superiority in the North Pacific and Arctic, as well as the peninsula itself. It commands units such as the Eleventh Air Force, the Eleventh Infantry, the Alaska National Guard, and Marines. Approximately 16,000 military personnel are part of Alaskan Command, although many of its units provide support to federal and state authorities and participate in missions around the world. Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base also hosts units from the Alaska National Guard, the Joint Forces Group Alaska, and Armed Forces training units.

A neutral place

Putin has relented on the choice of venue, as the Russian president had initially proposed the United Arab Emirates as a neutral location for both countries. However, the Trump administration rejected this idea because the US president had recently traveled to the Middle East in May and was not considering such a long trip to discuss a possible truce. The possibility of holding it in Hungary was explored, but was scrapped due to the arrest warrant against Putin for war crimes, issued by the International Criminal Court in 2023. A place like Helsinki, where the previous individual summit between the two presidents was held in 2018, would be unthinkable today given the context of the war in Ukraine itself, which has positioned Russia diplomatically at a distance from most European countries.

Ultimately, Elmendorf-Richardson will be the protagonist of this historic meeting. Alaska also has significant symbolic significance as a meeting point, not only because it is the closest point between the two countries (88 kilometers), but also because in 1867 Russia sold the peninsula to the United States for just over $7 million at the time. One of the most profitable land purchases for the United States, both militarily and economically.

Trump will seek negotiations this Friday that will position him as a mediator and pacifier in the major conflicts of his time, following his success with Armenia and Azerbaijan last week. He and Putin will be alone with their translators to discuss the war in Ukraine. Later, the United States will report to the other European leaders via videoconference on the results they reached. Trump promised to speak with Volodymyr Zelensky by phone to tell him about the meeting.

For his part, Zelensky will participate in the virtual meeting from Berlin. The trip to Germany coincides with the meeting promoted by Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron to bring Trump together with representatives of the so-called coalition of the willing, designed to militarily support kyiv.