 "US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during the family photo session at the APEC Summit in Danang, Vietnam November 11, 2017. Reuters File")
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is approaching Friday’s summit in Alaska with the intention of striking a deal and that threats of sanctions against Moscow probably played a role in Moscow seeking a meeting.
Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Alaska on Friday. The US president said he is unsure whether an immediate ceasefire can be achieved but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement.
In an interview on Fox News radio on Thursday, Trump said, “I believe now he’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal. He’s going to make a deal. I think he’s going to. And we’re going to find out — I’m going to know very quickly."
President Trump maintained high expectations for his upcoming summit with President Putin, despite White House officials earlier this week downplaying the session as merely a “listening exercise.”
Trump said that his broader goal is to move toward a three-way meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, noting that “three different locations” are under consideration — including the option of “staying in Alaska.”
However, Trump added a clear condition: “
President Donald Trump maintained high expectations for his upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite White House officials earlier this week downplaying the session as merely a “listening exercise.”
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View AllTrump indicated that his broader goal is to move toward a three-way meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, noting that “three different locations” are under consideration — including the option of “staying in Alaska.”
However, Trump added a clear condition: “If it’s a bad meeting, I’m not calling anybody — I’m going home. … But if it’s a good meeting, I’m going to call President Zelenskyy and the European leaders.”
When asked whether he would offer economic incentives to Russia, President Trump declined to give specifics.
“Well, I’d rather not say because I don’t want to play my hand in public, but whatever my hand is, economic incentives — and disincentives maybe — are more important, in a way, but incentives economically, you know,” he said.
Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Alaska on Friday.
The US president, however, said he is unsure whether an immediate ceasefire can be achieved but expressed interest in brokering a peace agreement.
Earlier in the day, Putin said that the United States was making “sincere efforts” to end the war in Ukraine and suggested that Moscow and Washington could agree on a nuclear arms deal as part of a broader push to strengthen peace.
“United States is making, in my opinion, quite energetic and sincere efforts to stop the hostilities, stop the crisis and reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict," said Putin.
This was happening, Putin said, “in order to create long-term conditions for peace between our countries, and in Europe, and in the world as a whole - if, by the next stages, we reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons.”
Putin’s remarks signalled that Russia will raise the issue of nuclear arms control as part of a wide-ranging discussion on security when he sits down with Trump for the first Russia-US summit since June 2021.
With inputs from agencies