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It will be Putin’s first trip to the United States since 2015, for the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Since the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court, which in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin on war crimes accusations, it is under no obligation to arrest him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are set to meet in Alaska on Friday, marking the first summit since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. Whether the talks can produce a peace deal remains uncertain, but many Moscow residents are hopeful.
It will be Putin’s first trip to the United States since 2015, for the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Since the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court, which in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin on war crimes accusations, it is under no obligation to arrest him.
Putin sees a meeting with Trump as a chance to cement Russia’s territorial gains, keep Ukraine out of NATO and prevent it from hosting any Western troops so Moscow can gradually pull the country back into its orbit.
He believes time is on his side as Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances along the front line amid swarms of Moscow’s missiles and drones battering the country.
The meeting is a diplomatic coup for Putin, isolated since the conflict started. The Kremlin sought to portray renewed U.S. contacts as two superpowers looking to resolve various global problems, with Ukraine being just one.
With just hours left to reach a deal on plastics, negotiators in Geneva were scrambling Wednesday to resolve a deadlock caused by “red lines” of member countries.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with several European leaders on Wednesday and saw them unite behind his cause ahead of a highly anticipated bilateral talk between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meetings with his European counterparts on Wednesday were numerous, and took place both in person, as with German chancellor Friedrich Merz, and virtually, in the case of French president Emmanuel Macron and British leader Keir Starmer.
The goal: show a united front and remind US president Donald Trump of the importance of letting Ukraine have its say in negotiations for peace with Russia. Zelenskyy and the European heads of government did so in a call with Trump on the same day.
Ukraine is worried that the bilateral talks between Washington and Moscow would exclude it from peace negotiations and impose a peace that would not consider its position. According to the Ukrainian leader, Trump has signalled Washington’s willingness to prepare a second meeting with Russia that could include Ukraine.
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Aside from the primary goal for Ukraine – a ceasefire, to give its battered cities and soldiers some respite – continued pressure on Moscow is also a concern.
