The Alaska summit agenda includes one-on-one talks, a bilateral lunch, and a joint press conference.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised the Trump administration’s “energetic and sincere” efforts to end the war in Ukraine and suggested that a nuclear arms control agreement could emerge from broader peace talks.
Putin made the remarks during an Aug. 14 meeting with senior Russian officials to brief them on negotiations with Washington ahead of his Aug. 15 summit with President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska.
“The current American administration is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis, and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript, translated from Russian.
The aim, he added, was to “create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, as well as in Europe, and in the world as a whole”—potentially including future agreements “in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons,” a reference to nuclear arms.
The United States and Russia remain bound by the New START treaty, which limits deployed intercontinental nuclear weapons but is set to expire in February 2026 unless extended or replaced.
Summit Venue and Schedule
The Kremlin said on Thursday that the Alaska summit will begin at 11:30 a.m. local time Friday at the Elmendorf-Richardson joint military base, starting with a face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin followed by wider talks.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Thursday that Trump plans to participate in a joint news conference with Putin after the meeting, offering additional details of the summit.
“So tomorrow, bright and early, he will be departing the White House for our joint military base in Anchorage, Alaska, where he will engage in a one-on-one meeting with President Putin, which will be followed by a bilateral lunch with the respective delegations from both countries, and then a press conference,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt added that the summit will give Trump an opportunity “to sit down and look the Russian president in the eye and see what progress can be made to move the ball forward to end this brutal war and to restore peace.”
By Tom Ozimek
