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Gearing up for Anchorage Kremlin announces new details about Putin and Trump’s upcoming meeting in Alaska
Source: Meduza
There’s just one day left before Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to fly to Alaska for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. The summit will be the first top-level meeting between the two countries’ leaders since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Though many questions remain unanswered, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov did reveal some key details about the upcoming event at a press briefing on Thursday. Here are the main takeaways.
- Putin and Trump will meet at 10:30 p.m. Moscow time (11:30 a.m. Anchorage time) on Friday, August 15, beginning with a one-on-one conversation with interpreters.
- After their private conversation, Putin and Trump will continue talks over a working breakfast.
- The Russian delegation will include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, presidential aide Yury Ushakov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Russian sovereign wealth fund head Kirill Dmitriev. (Notably, the delegation does not include Vladimir Medinsky, the Kremlin’s lead negotiator in peace talks with Ukraine.)
- The duration of the discussions will depend on how the talks unfold.
- The Russian delegation is in a “businesslike mood” and reportedly ready for practical discussions.
- After the heads of state meet one-on-one, negotiations will continue in an expanded format, with five delegates on each side.
- The U.S. delegation has also been finalized, though Russian officials say it’s up to Washington to announce the details.
- The summit’s central topic will be the war in Ukraine, though other issues will also be discussed.
- The Russian delegation is scheduled to return to Russia immediately after the summit concludes.
- The Kremlin sees it as symbolic that the meeting between Putin and Trump will take place near the burial site of nine Soviet pilots in Anchorage’s Fort Richardson Cemetery.
