President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, in a high-stakes summit to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Their sit-down at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.
It is the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin since 2019, and Putin’s first with a U.S. president since his forces invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Russian leader has spoken on the phone with Trump since his reelection, but they have not yet met in person during the president’s second term.
Trump has been trying for months to secure a deal to end the war, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to Friday’s summit, and expectations that a ceasefire agreement can be reached are low.
“This is really a feel-out meeting,” Trump told reporters earlier this week. “Probably in the first two minutes I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made.” The president also promised “very severe consequences” if Putin doesn’t agree to end the three-and-a-half-year conflict, which has caused a staggering number of casualties on both sides.
There were fresh attacks in the war overnight. Russia launched dozens of drone strikes across Ukraine, killing seven civilians and injuring 17 others, Ukrainian military officials said.
Yahoo News is providing live updates surrounding the summit in the blog below.
