The Russian and US presidents are set to hold talks on the Ukraine conflict and bilateral ties

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. ©  Kremlin Press Office / Handout / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, are set to hold high-stakes talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict in Anchorage, Alaska.

The negotiations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday, scheduled to begin at around 20:00 GMT, will focus on finding a settlement to the Ukraine conflict. According to Moscow, global “peace and security” as well as “further development of bilateral cooperation” in the economy and trade will also be on the agenda.

In addition to Putin, the Russian delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, and presidential economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who has been a key figure in the Ukraine settlement process.

The US has yet to confirm its delegation, although apart from Trump, it is expected to include Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy to Ukraine and the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Ahead of the talks, Moscow said it has a “clear and well-defined” stance as well as arguments to present to the US side. Trump has described the summit as a “feel-out meeting,” assessing that it has a 25% chance of failing.

The US president has suggested that the talks could focus on a land swap deal between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow maintains it will not give up Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye regions, which joined the country in public referendums in 2014 and 2022.

15 August 2025

18:30 GMT

Air Force One carrying Donald Trump has arrived in Alaska ahead of the summit with Putin.

 

18:05 GMT

Red carpet has been rolled out for Putin, with ‘Alaska 2025’ on display and fighter jets stationed nearby, as he is set to meet Trump in Anchorage soon.

 

17:38 GMT

RT’s Egor Piskunov, who will be covering the summit on site, said the Russian reporters were “not being greeted badly” in Alaska, but preparations for their stay appeared “done at the last minute.” He spent the night in a sports center resembling a temporary Covid-era facility, found no hot water in the showers, with breakfast only of bread, chips, and unrefrigerated tuna salad - the latter of which he “didn’t risk” eating.

 

 

17:29 GMT

Russian economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a key figure in the negotiations, posted a video on X showing himself in Alaska as a brown bear ambles past a roadside near water and dense shrubs. In the short video, the animal is seen moving calmly along the edge of the road before disappearing from view. Dmitriev captioned the short clip: “Met a bear in Alaska before the US-Russia Summit. Hopefully a good sign.” Dmitriev is set to join the Putin-Trump talks.

 

 

 

16:56 GMT

Accusations by Kiev that Russia allegedly struck a market in the Ukrainian city of Sumy earlier on Friday “are a deliberate provocation” aimed at disrupting the Russia–US summit, the Defense Ministry in Moscow (MOD) has said. 

READ MORE: Kiev planning false-flag attack ahead of Trump-Putin summit – MOD (FULL TEXT)

The ministry stressed that Russian forces had not carried out any strikes on Sumy or any other cities. The MOD had previously warned that the Ukrainian government was preparing a high-profile provocation to derail the Putin–Trump meeting

 

16:38 GMT

Putin’s Tu-214 has reportedly entered US airspace, data from FlightRadar24 shows, on its way to Anchorage. Nearly 150,000 people are reportedly tracking the flight online.

 

16:25 GMT

The Putin-Trump summit in Alaska “already inspires hope,” the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has said. The Christian leader, who held a prayer service ahead of the bilateral talks, said they could “bring hope and peace to all of humanity,” foster stronger Russia-US ties, and “allow the world to breathe a sigh of relief.” 

Everything suggests the two leaders are ready to develop relations and work for “the well-being of the entire human race and human civilization as a whole,” Kirill said.

Patriarch Kirill © Sputnik / Kristina Kormilitsina

 

15:37 GMT

The makeup of Russia’s delegation at the Putin-Trump summit suggests the talks will go far beyond the Ukraine conflict, according to Russian foreign policy expert Alexander Bobrov.

 

He noted that the people on Moscow’s team are “not random officials” but seasoned diplomats such as Presidential aide Yury Ushakov who previously served as Russia’s ambassador to Washington.

 

Bobrov suggested that the two sides could end up discussing a wide range of issues, including sanctions relief, returning diplomatic missions, cooperation in the Arctic, rare-earth metals, as well as broader trade, economic ties and arms control.

15:23 GMT

Aside from the Ukraine conflict and economic ties, the two sides expect to discuss the restoration of bilateral relations as a whole, presidential economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev told reporters ahead of the summit.

Dmitriev, who is officially part of the Russian delegation taking part in the discussions, said he was in “high spirits” in the lead up to the talks.

15:01 GMT

The Trump-Putin summit could last between six and seven hours, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has told reporters, adding that Moscow expects the meeting to be productive. 

He also stated that the face-to-face meeting between the two presidents will be held with aides present.

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