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(NewsNation) — The satellite is watching arsenic Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin marque their mode to Alaska for a high-stakes summit regarding Russia's three-year war successful Ukraine.
Trump has said the extremity of the gathering is to get Putin to perpetrate to stopping the fighting, but helium was unsure whether Friday's face-to-face speech successful Anchorage would pb to a ceasefire. On Thursday, helium said determination is simply a "25% chance" the acme won't beryllium successful.
Both leaders and their representatives are acceptable to conscionable astatine 3:30 p.m. EDT at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a U.S. subject installation located astir equidistant — astir 4,300 miles — from Moscow and Washington, D.C.
Trump, who is expected to beryllium accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff, said Friday’s meeting, depending connected its outcome, whitethorn pb to a 2nd gathering that includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
While Trump seemed to beryllium scaling backmost hopes for Friday's meeting, Russian officials person remained tight-lipped astir their expectations.
"We ne'er marque predictions successful advance. We cognize we person arguments and a clear, well-defined position. We volition contiguous it. A batch has already been done during Steven Witkoff's visits ... I anticipation that today, tomorrow, we volition proceed this precise utile conversation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said successful a statement.
Friday’s gathering marks the archetypal clip Putin has stepped connected U.S. ungraded successful astir 10 years.
Ukraine connected sidelines of Trump-Putin meeting
Although Ukraine is connected the extracurricular looking successful for Friday's talks, Zelenskyy has reiterated the U.S. indispensable not reward Russia for its penetration of Ukraine — and emphasized his state volition not portion ways with immoderate territory.
“There’s nary uncertainty successful my caput that Zelensky understands that territorial concessions whitethorn beryllium required to get a durable peace,” said John Herbst, elder manager of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a erstwhile U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy besides expressed fears that Putin is attempting to deceive Trump and is using the travel arsenic a photo-op. In the lead-up to Friday's bid talks, Putin and different Russian officials person maintained their demands, which see Ukraine ceding territory and demilitarizing.
NewsNation's Anna Kutz and Damita Menezes contributed to this report.
