Alaska: US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin began a long-anticipated summit Friday in Alaska, aimed at negotiating a resolution to the war between Moscow and Kyiv.
According to Qatar News Agency, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said ahead of the meeting that a follow-up session would include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Putin was joined by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
The two leaders declined to make any statements at the start of the talks and did not respond to questions from the press.
Ushakov said Thursday that the summit's main focus would be resolving the Ukraine crisis, with discussions expected to cover peace, security, and pressing global and regional issues.
Trump hopes to broker a ceasefire in the war, now in its fourth year, while Putin views the summit as a diplomatic victory and a proof that years of Western efforts to isolate Russia have failed and that Moscow has reclaimed its place on the world stage.