Trump Tempers Expectations Ahead Of Putin Meeting

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — President Donald Trump will big his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, for a gathering present Friday successful an audacious bid to agent a bid woody and extremity a three-year war pinch Ukraine and its ever-rising assemblage count.

Trump spent nan run-up to nan acme tempering expectations that it would nutrient a breakthrough, casting it alternatively arsenic a prelude to an as-yet-unscheduled gathering that would see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“All I want to do is group nan array for nan adjacent meeting, which should hap shortly,” Trump told reporters successful nan Oval Office connected Thursday.

Normally bullish astir his negotiating skills, Trump told Fox News Radio that nan likelihood are 1 successful 4 that his sit-down pinch Putin would beryllium a failure. His property secretary, Karoline Leavitt, likened nan acme to a “listening exercise” fixed that Zelenskyy wouldn’t beryllium present.

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“The president is realistic that this is apt a multistep process and he’s fresh and affirmative astir this measurement forward,” a elder Trump management charismatic told NBC News connected Friday morning, erstwhile asked astir nan president’s mindset.

Still, nan sit-down betwixt nan 2 leaders astatine a U.S. subject guidelines stands arsenic 1 of nan fewer hopeful moments successful a grinding conflict that started successful February 2022 erstwhile Russia sent tanks rolling crossed nan separator into Ukraine pinch nan extremity of swallowing up its antiauthoritarian neighbor.

Trump has pushed for nan 2 nations to extremity nan fighting arsenic he makes an increasingly nationalist campaign to triumph nan Nobel Peace Prize.

After boarding Air Force One connected Friday greeting for his formation to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson successful Anchorage, Trump said of his face-to-face sojourn pinch Putin: “Something’s going to travel of it.”

Russia’s early effort to march into Kyiv, nan Ukraine capital, sputtered and nan conflict has since devolved into a warfare of attrition, pinch casualties totaling about 1.5 million. At present, Putin holds a flimsy edge connected nan battlefield.

Trump enjoys sizeable leverage complete some combatants. If he chooses, he could slap stiffer sanctions connected countries specified arsenic India that bargain lipid from Russia. Or he could withhold much-needed money and subject hardware that person kept Ukraine successful nan conflict against its bigger adversary. For those reasons alone, nan warring countries request to return earnestly Trump’s insistence that nan conflict end.

“Putin is intelligibly successful a weaker position,” William Taylor, who was U.S. ambassador to Ukraine nether Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said successful an interview. “This penetration of Ukraine has turned retired to beryllium a disaster for him. Trump has nan cards this time.”

Trump and Putin are group to statesman talking astir 3:30 p.m. ET pinch translators coming for some sides. The U.S. delegation plans to laic retired a reddish carpet for Putin erstwhile he leaves his plane, 2 elder management officials said.

The location is itself rich | successful symbolism. For one, nan International Criminal Court has issued an apprehension warrant for Putin stemming from his behaviour successful nan war, meaning he could person been apprehended if nan tract had been successful a big of different nations. (The U.S. is not a signatory to nan court.)

What’s more, Alaska utilized to beryllium to Putin’s country, a truth that Russian commentators and governmental elite have seized on arsenic a affirmative awesome for nan talks. The U.S. purchased nan territory successful 1867 for $7.2 million, an acquisition that, ironically, strengthened America’s subject position connected nan Pacific rim successful a rivalry pinch Russia that has waxed and waned for decades.

“Putin has agreed to travel to Trump, to travel to America,” Robert O’Brien, White House nationalist information advisor successful Trump’s first term, said successful an interview. “That’s captious because Alaska is simply a erstwhile Russian colony and Putin’s full argumentation is astir recovering what he believes to beryllium erstwhile Russian Empire territory. Putin wants each of Russia’s territory backmost and yet he’s coming to a spot that was a erstwhile Russian colony to meet pinch nan president of nan United States — erstwhile he has nary chance of getting Alaska back.”

A subplot of nan gathering is nan individual chemistry betwixt nan American and Russian presidents. Trump took agency successful 2017 wanting a bully narration pinch Putin, who has go a pariah complete his battle connected Ukraine’s sovereignty. Upon his return to nan White House successful January, Trump astatine 1 constituent suggested he had a definite kinship pinch Putin complete investigations into Russian meddling successful nan 2016 statesmanlike race.

“Let maine show you, Putin went done a hellhole of a batch pinch me,” Trump said during a televised gathering pinch Zelenskyy successful nan Oval Office successful February.

More recently, Trump has voiced irritation pinch Putin complete continued Russian attacks connected Ukraine. Though Putin has sounded accommodating successful telephone calls, Trump has said, Russia hasn’t fto up its subject assault.

“We get a batch of bulls--- thrown astatine america by Putin, if you want to cognize nan truth," Trump said past month. “He’s very bully each of nan time, but it turns retired to beryllium meaningless.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who sits connected nan Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" connected Friday that nan acme carries risks successful legitimizing Putin. "My interest is that, well, nan photo-op successful and of itself fundamentally legitimizes warfare crimes, telegraphs to different autocrats aliases evil men astir nan world that they tin get distant pinch murdering civilians and still get a photo-op pinch nan president of nan United States," he said.

Trump was initially optimistic he could extremity nan warfare quickly. Lately, he’s conceded that nan warfare has proved a much stubborn problem than he anticipated.

A cardinal constituent of contention is land. Zelenskyy insisted past week that Ukraine would not cede territory to Russia.

“Ukrainians will not springiness their onshore to nan occupier,” he said.

Trump has suggested that immoderate communal “swapping” of territories would beryllium portion of a ceasefire. In his remarks Friday connected Air Force One, he said that he would talk divisions of territory successful his gathering pinch Putin, though he added, “I’ve sewage to fto Ukraine make that decision.”

In a post connected X Friday morning, Zelenskyy wrote successful English: “The cardinal point is that this gathering should unfastened up a existent way toward a conscionable bid and a substantive chat betwixt leaders successful a trilateral format — Ukraine, nan United States, and nan Russian side. It is clip to extremity nan war, and nan basal steps must beryllium taken by Russia. We are counting connected America. We are ready, arsenic always, to activity arsenic productively arsenic possible.”

As it now stands, Trump is group to clasp a news convention aft his gathering and moving luncheon pinch Putin, and past alert location Friday night. If nan 2 sides make progress, he has said he mightiness prolong nan travel and induce Zelenskyy to alert successful and return portion successful further talks.

Once a TV showman, Trump seems good alert of nan play and intrigue surrounding a acme that is drafting worldwide attention.

“High stakes!!!” he wrote successful all-caps connected his Truth Social level earlier departing for Alaska.