I\u2019m Shrai Popat<\/strong>, and I\u2019ll be bringing you the latest \u2013 alongside my colleagues \u2013 from today\u2019s event.<\/p>\n The summit is set to kick off in just over an hour (3pm ET), at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson<\/strong>. To get you up to speed, this is where things stand at the moment:<\/p>\n Donald Trump has said, repeatedly, over the last few days that his chief aim<\/strong> of today\u2019s meeting is to get a trilateral summit between Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/strong> and himself on the books<\/strong>. In his own words, Trump wants this to happen \u201calmost immediately\u201d. He\u2019s also convinced that he\u2019ll be able to tell from the first few minutes of his meeting today whether it will be a success, and would be prepared to walk away \u201creal fast\u201d if he thinks it\u2019s not going well, according to an interview with Fox News.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Crucially, the president has said he\u2019s not in Alaska to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine, but instead with the goal of \u201cgetting Putin to the table\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n However, Trump has been less clear on what would constitute a success from his sit-down with the Kremlin leader today. Earlier, on Air Force One<\/a>, the president told reporters that he wants to see a ceasefire \u201crapidly<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong>. <\/strong>He added: \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be today, but I\u2019m not going to be happy if it\u2019s not today.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n The president also repeated his stern words from earlier in the week that Russia could expect \u201csevere consequences\u201d<\/strong> if it fails to show willingness to end the war in Ukraine. \u201cEconomically severe.<\/strong> It will be very severe.<\/strong> I\u2019m not doing this for my health, <\/strong>OK, I don\u2019t need it.<\/strong> I\u2019d like to focus on our country, but I\u2019m doing this to save a lot of lives,\u201d<\/strong> the president said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n For Zelenskyy\u2019s part, he said that Ukraine is \u201ccounting on America<\/strong>\u201d. He\u2019s been shut out of talks today, but reiterated his call for \u201can honest end to the war\u201d, and said he hoped to see \u201ca strong American position\u201d during today\u2019s talks in Alaska.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n When it comes to territory negotiations<\/strong>, Trump has said he\u2019s not interested in deciding on those today without Ukraine present, and Zelenskyy has said categorically<\/a> that Ukraine could not agree to a ceasefire deal which cedes territory, as Moscow could use this as a springboard to start a future war.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Trump confirmed to Zelenskyy that he\u2019ll be calling him first<\/strong> after today\u2019s meeting wraps, and he\u2019s set to brief European leaders after that debrief.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Ahead of the today\u2019s summit, the president posted on Truth Social that he had a \u201cwonderful\u201d call with the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, <\/strong>saying \u201cthe purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners\u201d, with 1,300 under discussion. The Belarussian leader is the country\u2019s only president since it adopted its current constitution. Lukashenko has described himself as Europe\u2019s \u201clast and only dictator\u201d<\/strong>, and is a notable Russian ally.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.18 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also says that for the expanded bilateral meeting and lunch, Trump, Rubio, and Witkoff will be joined by treasury secretary Scott Bessent<\/strong>, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick<\/strong>, defense secretary Pete Hegseth<\/strong>, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n As we wait for the president to deplane from Air Force One, it\u2019s worth pointing out a nugget that my colleague, Jakub Krupa, reported earlier.<\/p>\n Former Obama administration official and former managing editor of Time magazine, Richard Stengel<\/strong>, has objected<\/a> to reports describing the Alaska summit as \u201chigh-stakes\u201d, arguing on social media that it\u2019s \u201ca journalistic cliche\u201d that \u201cplays into Trump\u2019s theatrical framing of the whole artificial made-for-TV \u2018event\u2019\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.48 EDT<\/p>\n Emotions run high in frontline Ukrainian city over ceding land to Russia The city of Zaporizhzhia, an industrial hub in south-east Ukraine, is as good a place as any to grasp the stakes of freezing Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine along its current frontlines, or of implementing a \u201cland swap for peace\u201d deal<\/a> as envisioned by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.<\/strong><\/p>\n Since Russian troops began rolling into Ukraine<\/a> in February 2022, Zaporizhzhia, with its broad avenues and Stalin-era apartment blocks, has been a 30-minute drive from the frontline. It has been under near-constant attack from missiles and drones. On Sunday, a Russian guided air bomb hit a bus station, wounding 24 people \u2013 just another day of suffering in a city that has known many of them.<\/p>\n Plenty of people here and in other Ukrainian towns close to the frontline are so weary of the sleepless nights and disrupted lives of the past years that they are ready for Kyiv to sign a peace deal, even an imperfect one, if it means the attacks will stop.<\/p>\n But many others have a very different opinion because they know first-hand what it means to give Russia<\/a> control over Ukrainian territory: arrests, disappearances and the erasure of anything Ukrainian. As Moscow moves swiftly to Russify occupied territory, expelling or arresting active members of society and introducing new media outlets and school curricula heavy on propaganda, a few years of Russian control may make it almost impossible for Ukraine to regain these territories at a later date.<\/p>\n About one in five people living in Zaporizhzhia are internally displaced, from places even closer to the frontline or from occupied parts of Ukraine<\/a>. They are living in Zaporizhzhia until they are able to go home.<\/p>\n Read more <\/a>about the grim reality of \u2018land swaps\u2019, and what it would mean for people in Zaporizhzhia. <\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump-Putin meeting no longer one-on-one, press secretary says<\/p>\n The previously planned sit-down between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin<\/a> will now include the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio,<\/strong> and special envoy Steve Witkoff<\/strong>, according to the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.49 EDT<\/p>\n Trump lands in Anchorage, Alaska<\/p>\n Air Force One has touched down at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson <\/strong>ahead of Donald Trump\u2019s meeting with Vladimir Putin<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>\n Share<\/a> Ahead of the Trump-Putin summit, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy,<\/strong> has said that Britain stands with Ukraine<\/a> on \u201cwhat will be an important day for the future of Ukraine and Euro-Atlantic security\u201d.<\/p>\n Lammy said he had spoken to Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha,<\/strong> and, in a post on social media, added: \u201cI reiterated our enduring support and our commitment to work with the US and Ukraine to secure a just and lasting peace.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.15 EDT<\/p>\n The view from Alaska: meeting could prove a win-win for Trump and Putin Greetings from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a cold war-era military installation on the outskirts of Anchorage, that will play host to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin<\/a> today.<\/p>\n I am among an estimated 700 journalists from all over the world. We were greeted at Anchorage international airport by the sight of a majestic brown bear slain by Governor Mike Dunleavy<\/a> and displayed as a trophy in a glass case.<\/p>\n The media gathered downtown at 5.30am local time today and were bused to the air force base under a big sky with picturesque mountains. The airbase is like a small city with housing, children\u2019s playgrounds, nondescript three-storey lodgings, a church with stained glass windows and great grassy expanses. The temperature is a crisp 50F.<\/p>\n The Reuters news agency reported<\/a>: \u201cThe Kremlin press pool was housed in an Alaska Airlines Center, where a semi-open-plan room was subdivided by partitions and some reporters were seen making their own camp-style beds. They were fed for free at a nearby university campus, Russian reporters said.\u201d<\/p>\n Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the cold war. It continues to play a role today, as planes from the base still intercept Russian aircraft that regularly fly into US airspace. Putin\u2019s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, arrived in a sweatshirt<\/a> with \u201cCCCP\u201d \u2013 the Russian letters for USSR \u2013 across the front.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s meeting could prove a win-win for the two leaders. Putin, an alleged war criminal who had been an international pariah, gets to meet the US president on American soil. Trump, for his part, gets to play global statesman in a massive media spectacle where no one is talking about Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.07 EDT<\/p>\n Russian government plane lands ahead of summit<\/p>\n The plane transporting Vladimir Putin<\/strong> and other Russian government officials has landed<\/strong> in Anchorage, Alaska, according to Flightradar24.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.59 EDT<\/p>\n Trump’s pivotal meeting with Putin to begin shortly<\/p>\n Welcome to our coverage of the US president\u2019s summit with Vladimir Putin<\/a> in Anchorage, Alaska. This will be the first meeting with the Kremlin leader of Trump\u2019s second term in office \u2013\u00a0and his seventh in total.<\/p>\n I\u2019m Shrai Popat<\/strong>, and I\u2019ll be bringing you the latest \u2013 alongside my colleagues \u2013 from today\u2019s event.<\/p>\n The summit is set to kick off in just over an hour (3pm ET), at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson<\/strong>. To get you up to speed, this is where things stand at the moment:<\/p>\n Donald Trump has said, repeatedly, over the last few days that his chief aim<\/strong> of today\u2019s meeting is to get a trilateral summit between Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/strong> and himself on the books<\/strong>. In his own words, Trump wants this to happen \u201calmost immediately\u201d. He\u2019s also convinced that he\u2019ll be able to tell from the first few minutes of his meeting today whether it will be a success, and would be prepared to walk away \u201creal fast\u201d if he thinks it\u2019s not going well, according to an interview with Fox News.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Crucially, the president has said he\u2019s not in Alaska to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine, but instead with the goal of \u201cgetting Putin to the table\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n However, Trump has been less clear on what would constitute a success from his sit-down with the Kremlin leader today. Earlier, on Air Force One<\/a>, the president told reporters that he wants to see a ceasefire \u201crapidly<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong>. <\/strong>He added: \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to be today, but I\u2019m not going to be happy if it\u2019s not today.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n The president also repeated his stern words from earlier in the week that Russia could expect \u201csevere consequences\u201d<\/strong> if it fails to show willingness to end the war in Ukraine. \u201cEconomically severe.<\/strong> It will be very severe.<\/strong> I\u2019m not doing this for my health, <\/strong>OK, I don\u2019t need it.<\/strong> I\u2019d like to focus on our country, but I\u2019m doing this to save a lot of lives,\u201d<\/strong> the president said.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n For Zelenskyy\u2019s part, he said that Ukraine is \u201ccounting on America<\/strong>\u201d. He\u2019s been shut out of talks today, but reiterated his call for \u201can honest end to the war\u201d, and said he hoped to see \u201ca strong American position\u201d during today\u2019s talks in Alaska.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n When it comes to territory negotiations<\/strong>, Trump has said he\u2019s not interested in deciding on those today without Ukraine present, and Zelenskyy has said categorically<\/a> that Ukraine could not agree to a ceasefire deal which cedes territory, as Moscow could use this as a springboard to start a future war.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Trump confirmed to Zelenskyy that he\u2019ll be calling him first<\/strong> after today\u2019s meeting wraps, and he\u2019s set to brief European leaders after that debrief.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Ahead of the today\u2019s summit, the president posted on Truth Social that he had a \u201cwonderful\u201d call with the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, <\/strong>saying \u201cthe purpose of the call was to thank him for the release of 16 prisoners\u201d, with 1,300 under discussion. The Belarussian leader is the country\u2019s only president since it adopted its current constitution. Lukashenko has described himself as Europe\u2019s \u201clast and only dictator\u201d<\/strong>, and is a notable Russian ally.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
![\"Shaun](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755283992_200_Shaun_Walker.png\")
Shaun Walker<\/p>\n![\"Faisal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Faisal_Ali.png\")
Faisal Ali<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755283993_91_David_Smith.png\")
David Smith<\/p>\n\n