The American president believes that Putin is interested in a deal to end the war in Ukraine. However, he estimates that there is a 25% chance that the dramatic summit in Alaska will fail. According to him, it is intended to prepare the ground for a three-way meeting with Zelensky, in which an agreement will be reached:"If the meeting is good, we will call him and the leaders of Europe. If it is bad, we will not call anyone." The Kremlin clarifies: "No signing of any document is planned tomorrow"
Ynet and the agencies|
Alaska will be held tomorrow (Friday)
Dramatic climax
Between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which Trump hopes to bring about a breakthrough in talks to end the war in Ukraine."He wants to close it out," Trump said of Putin's desire to end the war."Now I believe he's going to make a deal. I think he's going to do it, and we're going to find out."
When asked about the chance that the meeting would not be successful, he estimated it to be 25%."We'll do the best we can, and I think in the end the results will be good," Trump told Fox News radio.
4 Viewing the gallery
The two leaders at a meeting in Finland in 2018, during Trump's first term in the White House (Photo: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
The American president noted that the main goal of tomorrow's summit is to prepare the ground for another summit, with the participation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which an agreement will be reached to end the war.
"If the meeting is good, we will call Zelensky and the European leaders afterwards. If the meeting is bad, we will not call anyone," Trump said."We have ideas for three different places (for holding the trilateral summit), including the option - which would be the easiest by a wide margin, to stay in Alaska."
Ukrainian President Zelensky. Will he be invited to the trilateral summit? (Photo: RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP)
Trump compared tomorrow's meeting to a "game of chess," and said of the second meeting: "It's going to be very important, because it's going to be the one where they reach an agreement." He said it would include "give-and-take" talks on borders and territories. Trump added that his threats of sanctions against Russia played a role in the Kremlin's decision to hold the meeting tomorrow on ending the war, stressing:"If it's not resolved, there will be sanctions."
When asked if he would hold a joint press conference with Putin, the American president said:"I will hold a press conference, I don't know if it will be a joint one, we haven't even talked about it. I think it might be nice if there was a joint press conference, and then you separate."
The base in Alaska where the summit will be held tomorrow (Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)
The Kremlin today tried to lower expectations ahead of the summit in Alaska, saying that it would be a big mistake to estimate what the results of the meeting between the leaders of Russia and the United States will be. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that there are no intentions to sign any document after the summit tomorrow.
Putin held a preparatory meeting with senior officials in his administration at noon, praising the Trump administration for what he called"honest and energetic steps" taken to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In his remarks, he signaled the possibility that an agreement could be reached at tomorrow's summit that would prevent a renewed nuclear arms race between the superpowers.
Putin praised the Trump administration's "sincere steps" to end the war in Ukraine (Photo: REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo)
Putin's senior foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushkov, said that tomorrow's meeting between Trump and Putin will begin at 11:30 local time, which is 10:30 p.m. Israeli time, and the two leaders will also meet privately, with interpreters only, and will hold another, expanded meeting with delegations that will accompany them.
The summit will be held at the Elmendorf-Richardson US military base, located near the city of Anchorage in southern Alaska, the largest military base there, with a population of 32,000 people - about 10% of the total population of Alaska. This is a strategic base that throughout the Cold War played a central role in the American deterrent against Moscow. Among other things, radar systems were operated there at the time that were intended to provide warning of nuclear missile launches, and although a large part of its infrastructure has been dismantled since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, it still hosts various fighter jets today, including F-22 stealth fighters, which are sent to"escort" Russian fighter jets that sometimes approach American airspace.
