Trump and Putin meet in Alaska to decide Ukraine's future

WashingtonA handshake for the ages. Laughter included. US President Donald Trump welcomed his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, this Friday morning (local time) in Anchorage, Alaska, to decide the course of the war in Ukraine, with Volodymyr Zelensky notably absent. The image of Putin stepping onto US soil and being welcomed by Trump resonates with the Cold War era, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States in September 1959.

interpreter. Putin speaks enough English to hold a conversation with Trump. The idea of the two leaders in the car with no one but the driver adds mystery to the situation. a long relationship marked by secrecy.

The face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin at the Anchorage military base is not a meeting, but a reunion. Their last meeting was seven years ago, in a closed-door conversation at the Helsinki palace: at this point, no one knows what the two leaders discussed. To the surprise of his advisors—and much of the world—Trump came out affirming that he believed Putin when he said he had not interfered in the 2016 US elections. This Friday, after months of muddying the ceasefire negotiations in Ukraine and frustrating the accelerated peace that Trump and the KGB have been trying to achieve, he once again has the same mission: to convince the American that he wants peace, despite having been delaying the process to consolidate employment.

Before stepping off Air Force One, Trump had already signaled that he wanted a cease-fire today: "I want to see a cease-fire quickly. I don't know if it's going to be today, but I won't be happy if it's not today. Everybody says it can't be today, but I'm just saying, I want them killed."

While Trump and Putin met alone together, accompanied only by a translator, this time the White House decided at the last minute that the president would be accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff. While Witkoff shares Trump's approach to the Kremlin, Rubio is one of the hawks against Moscow. As for the Russian entourage, Putin will be assisted by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

One of Putin's main objectives is to bring Trump back down the path he had taken at the beginning of his term, when he had rapidly moved closer to the Kremlin and argued that Moscow wanted to end the conflict. Putin wants to make Trump believe that they both share the same philosophy: that of business. But Putin's main business is to stay in power and stay in Ukraine.

The confrontation between the Manhattan businessman and the former KGB agent is nothing more than a clash of visions about the essence of power. Game of Thrones The following riddle arises: a king, a priest, and a rich man are in a room where there is also a mercenary with a sword, who is the only one who can decide who lives and who dies. Of all of them, who has the real power? What power does Putin really crave?

Putin isn't really interested in ending the war because, over time, it has become a key element in sustaining his regime. For the Russian leader, convincing Trump that he is truly open to a ceasefire kills two birds with one stone: it buys time and undermines the bridge that the Europeans and Volodymyr Zelensky have rebuilt with Washington. The nervousness of Europe and the Ukrainian president stems from his exclusion from the negotiating table and his inability to fully trust Trump. The precedent of Helsinki and the lowering of expectations from the White House in the days leading up to the meeting are bad omens for Kiev and the Old Continent.

The territorial question

To Putin's negotiating skills, we must add Trump's unpredictability, accustomed to making last-minute decisions. He often lets himself be guided by the last person he heard or who advised him. On Air Force One en route to Alaska, the Republican stated for the first time in public that he is open to the "possibility" of offering security guarantees in Ukraine, "along with other countries in Europe and other countries." However, so as not to frighten Putin, he clarified that Kiev's protection would not be through NATO. Trump is not exactly one to marry anyone, believing that standing between two waters gives him more strength. The statement was also an indirect message to Moscow. And to add some pressure, the president also again threatened possible economic sanctions against Russia.

Trump said that, although possible territory swaps should be discussed, it should be Ukraine "that makes this decision." Stating that There will be no territorial concessions without UkraineThe Republican did not rule out discussions in Anchorage about possible ground to be ceded. Washington and Moscow will outline the scenario, and in a second meeting at the White House, which Trump wants to be "trilateral"—with Zelensky present—they would present the draft agreement to Ukraine for him to sign. "I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I'm here to get him to a table," Trump told reporters. He also said that Europe doesn't tell him what to do.